Editoriais de terça, 3/1

Haaretz writes: "The kidnapping of foreigners who have come to the Gaza Strip to help the Palestinians has become routine. The loss of a sense of safety first of all harms the civilian Palestinian population, casts a heavy shadow on the Palestinian Authority, and raises grave doubts about its ability to rule, to develop a civilian society and to establish a state. Meanwhile Qassam rockets continue to be fired at Israeli communities and targets. Islamic Jihad claims it will stop adhering to the internal Palestinian agreement not to launch attacks on Israel. Those operating the launchers are trying, among other things, to hit Ashkelon and especially strategic targets like the main power station or desalination plants. It is hard to expect a sovereign state to put up with Qassam rocket fire without striking back. Clearly there is no desire to reoccupy territories in the Gaza Strip. Israel has also refrained from operating massive ground forces in the Strip. But there is no telling what would happen if the rocket fire continues and even intensifies. Israel has a right to defend itself, but it must make sure its reactions are measured and proportional. It must also ensure that they are in keeping with the requirements of international law. Both the government and senior IDF staff realize that any unnecessary strike at the Palestinian population will strengthen the radical groups such as Islamic Jihad."

The Jerusalem Post writes: "Yesterday, three Kassam rockets were launched from outside the 'no-go' zone in Gaza and landed in the western Negev. Rocket attacks, even if they are so far statistically less lethal than other forms of terrorism, cannot be regarded as simply a nuisance. The obvious purpose of withdrawing from Gaza was not to return a few months later but to shift the burden of ending terrorism on to the shoulders of the Palestinian leadership. In order to shirk this responsibility, the PA is increasingly pointing to its own impotence. The PA's evident disintegration seems to have led to an unspoken international assumption that the Palestinians cannot be held accountable for crushing terrorism, or that it must be 'helped' to do so with increased financial or diplomatic assistance. The net result, however, is that the more helpless the PA looks or is, the more Israel steps in militarily and the international community with assistance to the PA, both of which further strip the PA of the need to act itself. Given this situation, Israel and the international community need to decide whether to embark on a last ditch effort to attempt the unattempted: holding the PA accountable."

Hatzofeh says that while Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen is proving to be as duplicitous as his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, he is better than Arafat at manipulating Western opinion to the Palestinians' advantage and Israel's disadvantage. The editors accuse the Government of capitulating to US diktat, "and the price of this capitulation - people killed and wounded by terrorists whom Abu Mazen is doing nothing to stop."

Yediot Aharonot commends the anti-crime measures announced at yesterday's Cabinet meeting but asserts that, "Israel actually needs much more than this," and calls for a complete overhaul of policy towards foreign workers and their children.

Yediot Aharonot, in its second editorial, derides Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz's statement that he has appointed a committee to deal with the uprooting of Palestinian-owned olive trees in Judea and Samaria.

Yediot Aharonot, in its third editorial, comments on Betar Jerusalem owner Arkady Gaidamak's lavish New Year's Eve party.