Today's Situation

BOYCOTT BLUES , May 31, 2007

With the first round of the Labor Party primaries fading into the background - and the negotiations between Ami Ayalon and Amir Peretz failing to provide a headline - all three of Israel's Hebrew-language papers lead with different stories on Thursday.

While Yedioth Ahronoth leads with a domestic story - 1,500 teachers facing the sack after budgets were cut to Jewish schools in the Negev and the Galilee, in accordance with High Court ruling on parity between the Jewish and Arab sectors - Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is examining, via a third party, the possibility of renewing negotiations with Syria.

According to the report, Olmert recently told aides in a closed-door meeting that, 'The price [Israel will have to pay] is clear. There may be a debate on the payment terms, discounts etc. but the main question is what Israel would receive in return. Will it receive peace like [the one it has] with Egypt, peace like Britain and France have, or a deception: Give us the Golan, and all you'll get is an alliance between Syria and Iran and Hamas headquarters in Damascus,' Olmert said.

On Thursday, Israel Radio quoted an unnamed government source as saying that while there was no direct contact between Israeli and Syrian officials, 'but a very serious reassessment is underway.'

Maariv leads with a story that is also covered prominently in the other paper - a vote yesterday by British academics in support of an academic of Israel. The motion passed by the University and College Union (UC) yesterday 'notes that Israel's 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society through annexation, illegal settlement, collective punishment and restriction of movement... deplores the denial of educational rights for Palestinians by invasions, closures, checkpoints, curfews, and shootings and arrests of teachers, lecturers and students.'

While it will not have any immediate ramifications, the UCU vote raised a chorus of disapproval in Israel and the U.K. Speaking Thursday on Israel Radio, Minister Isaac Herzog, who has ministerial responsibility for combating anti-Semitism, strongly condemned the decision. Herzog said that he had contacted the British ambassador to Israel, Tom Phillips, and complained that the resolution was scandalous and biased and ignored Jewish history. Herzog said it was disturbing that the decision was taken in a country considered friendly to Israel and soul-searching is now required by all British citizens.

Meretz leader Yossi Beilin, speaking on Channel 2 television on Thursday morning, called on outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to condemn the vote, and Education Minister Yuli Tamir penned an opinion piece for Yedioth Ahronoth (see below) in which she noted with irony the timing of the resolution - which came at a time when Israeli students who live close to Gaza are unable to study because of rocket attacks.

And the Qassam attacks against Israel communities continued Thursday. Two rockets landed in Sderot, with one hitting an apartment building. No one was injured. The IDF responded by launching an air strike against the cell that carried out the attack.

On Wednesday, Olmert convened his security cabinet, which authorized the IDF to continue targeting cells directly involved in firing missiles and leaders of the groups responsible.

For the first time Wednesday, the international Quarter - the U.S., the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - met to discuss the latest Middle East violence. A statement issued after their meeting called on the Palestinians to make every effort to stem internal violence and halt the rocket attacks. In new York, meanwhile, the Security Council issues an unusual statement, in which it called for an end to violence between Palestinian factions, without mentioning Israel's alleged role in the clashes. According to Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, who was interviewed Thursday by Israel Radio, this is a major diplomatic achievement for Israel.

In other news, Yedioth Ahronoth carried a wire report which claims that Turkey has revealed that authorities last week seized Iranian weapons on a train bound for Syria. The arsenal was discovered during a check of containers following a bombing of the train by Kurdish guerillas. The weapons reportedly included a rocket pad, 300 rockets, machine guns, pistols and ammunition, according to the Turkish newspaper The New Anatolian. A security official denied the report, which was based on statements of a prosecutor and government officials.

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