(Government Press Office)

Haaretz - http://www.haaretzdaily.com
Ma'ariv - http://www.maariv.co.il
Yediot Aharonot - http://www.ynet.co.il
Globes - http://www.globes.co.il
Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com
Hazofeh - http://www.hazofe.co.il

Haaretz comments: "The Hamas victory in the Palestinian Legislative Council changed not only the diplomatic map of Israeli-Palestinian relations; it also threatens the Palestinian population, young and old, with a severe humanitarian crisis. The Palestinian Authority depends on outside funding to close the gap between its income and its outlays. Some of this funding goes directly to infrastructure and development projects, but most passes through the PA bureaucracy. From the moment this system was given over to a terror organization, which has not stopped its preparations for attacks against Israel and is not acting to put a stop to rocket and suicide attacks dispatched by other organizations (Fatah and Islamic Jihad), transferring this money to the Hamas government constitutes for all intents and purposes acceptance of continued terror. It also works against the policies of Jerusalem, Washington and Ramallah - the seat of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - to weaken the Hamas government and encourage the Palestinian public to replace it in the next elections. On the other hand, the increasing distress of hundreds of thousands of Gazans looms large."

The Jerusalem Post writes: "Prima facie, it may be argued that Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger is getting a raw deal from Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz when the latter requires he resign over multiple allegations against him, none of which, however, was sufficiently conclusive to produce an indictment that would hold up in court...The reverse consideration, though, is whether we should countenance a chief rabbi - not a political player but a moral guide, and as such required to be a veritable paragon of virtue - who clings to his office at a time when the country's most senior law official has branded him dishonest and unfit for his post. Civil servants can be disqualified for less. In holding on, he risks bringing discredit to the already weakened Chief Rabbinate, still recovering from the scandal affecting the family of the other, Sephardi, chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar."

Hatzofeh criticizes Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz's decision to call on Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger to resign, even though he also decided not to indict him, over allegations regarding untoward benefits that  Metzger is said to have received at Jerusalem hotels.  The editors accuse Mazuz of being highly selective in enforcing the law on senior officials.

Yediot Aharonot comments on the latest developments in the coalition negotiations: "Instead of acting according to natural interests, taking into account the needs of the other side and proposing solutions that serve everybody, Israeli politicians are engaged in what the Americans – crudely but precisely – call 'a pissing contest.' "