From Today's Israeli Press
RAFAH LOOMS
INTENSIVE TREATMENT: Nadav Haetzni asserts in Israel Hayom that in the wake of October 7, Israel must rid the IDF of all the senior officers whose failures have ensnared it in the current imbroglio.
STAY PUT: Ron Ben-Yishai claims in Ynet that this is not the time for the Chief of Staff and head of the Shin-Bet to resign.
DON'T MENTION IT: Boaz Haetzni argues in Makor Rishon that the only thing preventing Gush Dan from being run over by terrorists is a forbidden topic in Israeli media.
NEW INITIATIVE: Yoni Ben Menachem stresses in ArabExpert that Israel and Egypt are trying to promote an abductees deal before the invasion of Rafah.
MOMENT OF TRUTH UP NORTH: Zvi Bar'el proclaims in Haaretz that an Israeli operation in Rafah may determine if the "War of Messages" with Hezbollah becomes real.
JOY AND HEARTBREAK: The Jerusalem Post editorial contends that the Hamas video clip of Hersh Goldberg-Polin is evoking a startled response throughout Israel.
From Today's Arabic Press
A PIVOTAL MOMENT IN HISTORY
SERVING A GENOCIDAL PROJECT: The PA's acceptance of the U.S. and its allies as mediators stems from its mistaken belief that the Palestinians are powerless and have no alternatives when the fact is that their resistance and steadfastness are changing the world, proclaims Palestinian commentator Mohammad Yaghi in Friday's leading Palestinian daily al-Ayyam. The PA should therefore cut its ties with all countries that supply arms and participate in Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinians, sending a clear and unambiguous message that the region sees them as partners in this war.
NOT A PASSING EVENT: The student protests in the U.S. against the Israeli genocide in Gaza and against U.S. arms supplies to Israel are no temporary flareup, insists Palestinian commentator Kamal Khalaf on Friday's London-based, pan-Arab www.raialyoum.com. They point to an important historical change in world opinion towards the Palestinian cause, a change that is fed by Israeli, U.S. and other Western leaders' violent backlash against the protests at a time when the Arab street is about to erupt, proving that it is an advantage when one's enemy is blind.
SIT-IN: Despite the participation of a number of Jewish organizations in the protests in many universities across the U.S. against the Israeli genocidal machine, the charge of "antisemitism" has been readily brandished by leading Israeli and American politicians against anyone opposing Israel, notes Friday's editorial in the Qatari-owned London-based, pan-Arab daily al-Quds al-Arabi. But matters reached absurd levels with Israeli National Security Minister Ben-Gvir proposing to form an Israeli security force to protect Jewish communities overseas using the same thuggish methods he uses against the Palestinians.
HEZBOLLAH AND HAYYA'S PROPOSAL: Statements by prominent Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya that Hamas would be willing to dissolve its military wing which can become part of a Palestinian army if a sovereign Palestinian state is established on the lands occupied in 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital have revived talk of the possibility of an end to the regional escalation, maintains Lebanese commentator Munir ar-Rabi' on Friday's Lebanese news portal www.almodon.com. Hezbollah has made it clear that such de-escalation would extend to the Lebanese front; but much depends on what Israel would do.
SUDANI DISAPPOINTS THE RESISTANCE: While the pro-Iranian Iraqi resistance factions were hoping that Iraqi PM Mohammad Shiya' al-Sudani's visit to Washington earlier this month would lead to a clear timetable for the speedy withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, it is clear that Sudani's agenda was different, notes Egyptian commentator Mohammed as-Sa'id Idriss in Friday's UAE daily al-Khaleej. As a result, the Iraqi resistance factions' conflict with the Americans and with Sudani and his Kurdish and Sunni supporters will probably escalate at a highly sensitive time in the region.