The Times covers a scandal making headlines in Israel. Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be investigated over claims by former staff members at her official residence that she unlawfully profited by returning empty bottles for recycling after official functions and kept the deposit. The accusation is part of a wider legal claim by former staff members who allege that Mrs Netanyahu subjected them to mistreatment. The article also suggests that Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party attempted to form a last-minute joint electoral list with Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu Party ahead of the deadline for registration yesterday, but no agreement was reached.

The Guardian covers an Israeli court decision yesterday which ruled that the Municipality of Beit Shemesh must pay damages to four ultra-Orthodox women, after it failed to remove signs in local streets which had been erected illegally calling on women to dress modestly. The signs had already been deemed unlawful, but it was ruled that the municipality failed to act. Beit Shemesh has been a flash point for tension as some residents claim that sections of the ultra-Orthodox community are aggressively attempting to impose their way of life on the city.

The Guardian online says that Spain has called for a United Nations (UN) investigation into the death on Wednesday of a Spanish peacekeeper serving with the UN in southern Lebanon. He was apparently caught in the crossfire of Israeli artillery shells, which were fired in response to an anti-tank missile attack on an Israeli military vehicle near the Lebanese border, which killed two soldiers.

The Guardian and the online edition of the Financial Times both cover a series of coordinated attacks yesterday on Egyptian army and police positions in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel, killing at least 27 security personnel. The attacks were carried out by Islamist terror group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has also targeted Israel on occasion and is now affiliated with ISIS.

The Guardian online says that in Egypt’s capital Cairo, dozens of women demonstrated yesterday to protest the death last weekend of 32-year-old woman Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, who was apparently killed by police while protesting peacefully to mark the fourth anniversary of the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

The Times online reports that an Iranian satellite television station has for the first time broadcast a programme informing Iranians about the horrors of the Holocaust, documenting a visit to Auschwitz. The programme has apparently sparked keen debate in Iran over the Holocaust and the nature of the Iranian regime, some accusing it of deception and repression.

In the Israeli media, the fallout from this week’s violence on Israel’s northern borders continues to make headlines. Yediot Ahronot says that there is a “tense quiet,” while Maariv claims that there was a warning of a possible anti-tank missile attack ahead of Tuesday’s Hezbollah strike which killed two Israeli soldiers. The funerals of the two soldiers, which took place yesterday, are covered prominently by Israel Hayom.

Another major story is the allegations surrounding Sara Netanyahu and her alleged unlawful profiteering from returning empty bottles to supermarkets for recycling. Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot and Maariv all report that the State Comptroller is preparing to look into what they refer to as the “bottles affair.”

Israel Radio news reports that yesterday saw the deadline pass for parties to register their list of candidates ahead of the 17 March election, with 26 parties eventually fielding candidates. Haaretz says that Moshe Kahlon rejected a unity deal with Likud, which could have seen him become the next Finance Minister. Meanwhile, a poll in Maariv indicates that Likud has received a boost during the last week, possibly due to tensions on the northern border, and is now ahead of the Zionist Camp by one seat on 25 mandates, with Jewish Home in third on 16 and the united Arab list fourth on 12 seats.