Press unease over new Israel partner

Newspapers in Israel and the Middle East have reacted with concern to the admission of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party to the ruling coalition and the effect it will have on Israeli politics.

One Israeli commentator expresses fear at what is seen as the party's "racist" credentials, while another believes the move has tarnished the image of the Labour Party.

At the same time a Jerusalem Post editorial fears party leader Avigdor Lieberman will tone down his criticism of Iran's nuclear activities, an Iranian Arabic-language paper sees the development as a sign of increasing Israeli belligerence towards Iran.

An Egyptian commentator sees the move as a setback to the peace process with the Palestinians.

LILI GALILI IN LEFTIST HA'ARETZ

An important point escaped the stormy public discussion surrounding Avigdor Lieberman's joining the government: its significance for over one million Israelis from the former Soviet Union. We are not talking only about the implications for the Russian-speaking electorate of adding the Yisrael Beitenu chairman to the government. The step also has a profound influence on all of society due not only to the legitimacy granted to the party's racist agenda, but also to the symbolic significance of the position its leader will hold.

The failure of the second war in Lebanon reinforced their [Lieberman's party members'] feeling that they understand the regional situation better than the veterans. The message to the veteran establishment is: you tried your way and failed, now it's our turn to lead. Lieberman is fulfilling this desire as he enters what many Russian speakers see as a great Israeli vacuum.

EDITORIAL IN CENTRIST, TOP CIRCULATION YEDIOT AHARONOT

Our concern here is not Lieberman. Just the opposite: it seems that there are grounds for believing that he will moderate as he sits on the minister's chair... The problem now is Israeli politics, the Labour Party and credibility... The vote on Sunday [approving Mr Lieberman's joining the government] is yet further proof the Labour Party has learned nothing. Credibility was shoved in that rear place in the human body used for sitting and for something else. The main thing is power, money, and spoils.

SHIMON SCHIFFER IN YEDIOT AHARONOT

Ehud Olmert promised yesterday that the powers of [Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni and [Defence Minister Amir] Peretz ministers would not be affected by the admission of Lieberman to the government, but such reassurances failed to move them. They have already made clear that they had no intention of enabling Lieberman to encroach on their areas of responsibility.

EDITORIAL IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE JERUSALEM POST

The Lieberman rejoining the Israeli cabinet of 2006 is speaking very differently from the 2001 model who urged the bombing of Teheran. Interviewed by the Jerusalem Post last weekend, Lieberman now urged that the Iranian threat be handled discreetly. "We have to wait and see what the European Union, United States, Russia and China do about Iran," he asserted patiently. "We don't need to be on the front line on this issue. We just have to sit and wait."

How ironic that new minister Lieberman is now attracting international criticism for past aggressive utterances at the very moment when he has opted for a softly-softly approach to the issue where he should be forcefully highlighting the dangers.

KARIMAH KIRLIS IN EGYPT'S AL-AKHBAR

Observers consider that the entry to the governing coalition of the extreme right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, chaired by Avigdor Lieberman, heralds a halt to any political process with the Palestinians and the likelihood that the option of a military solution will gain new impetus.

COMMENT IN IRAN'S ARABIC-LANGUAGE AL-VEFAGH

Instating the right-wing extremist Avigdor Lieberman at the head of a ministry called strategic affairs responsible for Iranian nuclear activity indicates the new Israeli belligerence.

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