Israel PM under fire at home over holy sites plan

Three of Israel's leading dailies accuse Netanyahu of pandering to settler lobby, far right.

TEL AVIV- Harline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was lambasted by the Israeli press Friday over his plans to renovate two holy sites in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank, with two papers warning he is playing with fire.

The Israeli move is seen as an attempt to retain illegal Israeli control of holy sites in the Palestinian territories.

Three of Israel's leading dailies accused the prime minister of pandering to the settler lobby and the far right.

Netanyahu sparked outrage earlier this week when he said he hoped to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in a national heritage restoration plan.

The liberal daily Haaretz and the Yediot Aharonot carried cartoons of Netanyahu with a box of matches, indicating how provocative they saw his proposals to be.

Haaretz dubbed the prime minister a "master pyromaniac" for the move, which has infuriated the Muslim world and drawn criticism from the wider international community, including the US.

The paper recalled that it was Netanyahu who during a previous term as premier in 1996 sparked bloody riots in Jerusalem by ordering the opening of a tunnel under the Al-Asqa mosque compound.

The paper asked whether it was really necessary to "open such a Pandora's box at a time when the world is looking for a resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."

"Netanyahu has shown once again that he is incapable of standing up to pressure," it added, recalling that the two sites were not included on a preliminary list of heritage sites.

The rightwing Maariv newspaper was also critical, accusing the prime minister of "having learnt nothing from the past."

Around 100 Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in Hebron on Thursday in a fourth straight day of angry protests over the proposed listings, which even Israel's US ally has criticized as "provocative."

The Islamic bloc at the United Nations called for international action to force Israel to rescind its decision.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37519.