From Today's Israeli Press
ON SOVEREIGNTY AND INDEPENDENCE
MY KINGDOM FOR A PARDON: Nadav Haetzni asserts in Israel Hayom that Netanyahu is in an extreme conflict of interest with Trump.
A BAD SURPRISE: Yoav Zitun claims in Yedioth Ahronoth that Israel is worried Trump may force it to withdraw from the Syrian Hermon.
RED LINES FOR TURKEY: Meir Ben Shabbat argues in Makor Rishon that Israel must take action against Erdogan's plan to strangle it with a pincer movement from Gaza in the South and Syria in the North.
THE SAVE-NETANYAHU FLOTILLA: Ben Caspit stresses in Maariv that the international effort to secure a pardon for Netanyahu is no spin and stems from real anxiety ahead of a verdict.
FOUR FRONTS: Zvi Bar'el proclaims in Haaretz that Trump is toiling to turn vague plans into a workable Middle East peace on four fronts.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER: Yaakov Katz contends in The Jerusalem Post that Israel's politics of boycott against Netanyahu must end.
From Today's Arabic Press
OCCUPATION BY ANOTHER NAME
THE U.S. SUBMITS A UN PROPOSAL: The U.S. submitted a draft resolution for the formation of an International Stabilization Force in Gaza after it became clear that almost no country is willing to send troops to Gaza without a clear UN mandate, notes Palestinian commentator Mohammad Yaghi in Friday's leading Palestinian daily al-Ayyam. But if the force drives a wedge between Gaza and the West Bank, aims to disarm the resistance, is under U.S. authority, fails to coordinate with the PLO, and includes states that do not recognize Palestine, it will be no difference from an Israeli occupation force.
SACRED IGNORANCE: Although the results of Iraq's general elections show PM Mohammad al-Sudani's coalition in the lead, his win will prove futile since the largest bloc will end up belonging to the groups loyal to the Shiite Coordination Framework allied with Iran, predicts Mahdi Qassim on Friday's independent Iraqi news portal www.sotaliraq.com. Therefore, we should expect more of the same in post-election Iraq, unless the U.S./Iranian tug-of-war intervenes and alters the picture.
TWO DECADES LATER: Twenty years after Iraq's first post-invasion election in 2005, and after the many turns, changes, and disappointments that the Iraqis have witnessed, it is surprising to find that last Tuesday's election very much resemble the 2005 elections in the sectarian mindset that governs the Iraqis' electoral choices, maintains Iraqi commentator Salam Makki on Friday's Iraqi www.al-aalem.com. The parties may have changed their names, but they are still the same old parties, and they are reelected again and again despite their failure to offer anything to their voters, which only confirms the voters' "sacred ignorance".
SHARAA'S PREDICAMENT: Now that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has joined the U.S.-led international anti-ISIS coalition, he can no longer postpone the battle against his former jihadist comrades-in-arms and will soon face the multiple complications involved in fulfilling his new mission, asserts Lebanese commentator Firas ash-Shoufi in Friday's left-leaning pro-Hezbollah Beirut daily al-Akhbar. In addition to the thousands of foreign jihadists whom he will have to fight and the extensive intermingling between members of his security forces and ISIS fighters, he cannot rely on the many segments of Syrians with whom he has burnt his bridges since coming to power.
AN EXTRAORDINARY VISIT: Sharaa's visit to Washington may be historic, but its results were not what he had hoped for especially since sanctions on Syria remain in place as the list of U.S. demands on the new Syrian leadership grows, notes Lebanese commentator Hussam Kanafani on Friday's Qatari-owned, London-based, pan-Arab news portal www.alaraby.co.uk. These include the demand to remove foreign fighters from Syria, which is extremely difficult for Sharaa to achieve, given the Islamist nature of his forces, and the demand to take major steps towards normalizing Syria/Israel relations, which is opposed by Sharaa's regional patrons in Riyadh, Doha, and Ankara.