Editoriais de segunda, 24 de abril *

Haaretz comments: "The cabinet being developed in coalition negotiation rooms and nighttime summit talks will soon be one of the largest in the annals of the country. Ehud Olmert will lead a large cabinet in a small country, where ministers with and without portfolios will converge and look for something with which to occupy themselves, which will not always be found. A cabinet that is apparently meant to include about 30 ministers is not a real governing body that constitutes "the executive branch of the country" by virtue of the Basic Law on government... Much of the quarter of a billion shekels needed, by some estimates, for annual maintenance of the cabinet - its ministers, deputy ministers and advisers - could have been used for far more important purposes than to be nice to everyone... If we add to the ministerial festivities some eight deputy ministers, who are considered part of the executive branch, then we will find that one-third of the Knesset members take no part in the obligation of parliamentary criticism of the cabinet. In a coalition that will likely include some 80 MKs, a significant portion of whom will not be participating in the work of the parliament as the legislative branch and supervisory authority, the cabinet will end up neutralizing the Knesset."

The Jerusalem Post writes: "At what point in the coalition negotiations do the parties jointly decide, "it's not our money, let's stick it to the voters"? It is difficult to interpret the decision to form a government of a minimum of 27 ministers in another manner. Such profligacy is a form of corruption, and clearly starts the nascent government on the wrong foot."

O Yediot Acharonot critica fortemente "the moral nadir expressed in the state's attitude toward the Holocaust survivors who live here," many of whom are in dire socio-economic straits.

O Hatzofeh critica os deputados árabes-israelenses que recentemente se encontraram com oficiais da liderança do Hamas e adverte que esses encontros poderão abrir caminho para que também líderes europeus e outros comecem a se encontrar com representantes do Hamas.