The Financial Times says that gaps between Western powers and Iran in talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme are narrowing. Apparently, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif will meet over the weekend. The report also extensively quotes Israel’s Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, who outlines several areas of Israeli concern over the nascent deal which is apparently being discussed. They include the number of centrifuges Iran may be permitted and the extent of centrifuge research Tehran will be allowed to undertake.

The Times online reports Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the claim by Washington administration spokespeople that Israel is “cherry-picking” aspects of the proposed agreement in order to distort it. Netanyahu said that Israel knows the details of what he termed a “bad agreement,” one which is “dangerous for the State of Israel.” The Guardian online says that 23 liberal Democrat members of Congress have urged the Republican Speaker John Boehner to postpone Netanyahu’s scheduled speech on 3 March and to stop using him “as a political tool against the president.”

In the Guardian, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid writes a letter in the print edition and a longer online piece, which both take aim at the recent petition by 700 British artists calling for a boycott against Israel. Lapid calls it “lacking in coherence” and argues that the petition wilfully ignores Israel’s legitimate demand for security, demonstrated by the violence launched at Israel from Gaza since the 2005 disengagement.

The Independent i reports that the IDF Advocate General, Maj Gen Danny Efron has said that he is not concerned by legal threats aimed at Israelis by the Palestinian leadership which recently joined the International Criminal Court. He said that Israel’s own internal probes are sufficient to ensure justice.

The Guardian online says that the United States and Turkey have signed an agreement to train and arm selected Syrian rebels to help them fight against ISIS. However, there is a suggestion that Turkey want these opposition groups to also take aim at the Assad regime, an idea opposed by Washington.

In the Israeli media, the top story is the winter storm which struck the country last night with heavy snow falling particularly in Jerusalem and in northern areas but as far south as Arad. Schools are closed in many areas and emergency services are preparing for disruption. With the inclement weather expected to extend into the weekend, the Israel Hayom front page headline predicts a “White Sabbath.” Israel Radio news reports that snowfall in Jerusalem and the north is continuing this morning.

Another major story in Israel Hayom is a report claiming that Iran aims to build a front against Israel on the Golan Heights and the Lebanon border. Meanwhile, Israel Radio news says that US State Department spokespeople said that some information on nuclear negotiations with Iran had been withheld from Israel. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu commented that Israel knows all the details and is opposed to the nascent deal.

The top story in Haaretz claims that a majority of Israel’s Arab citizens support the idea of the Joint Arab List joining a coalition government. The faction’s official stance has so far been that it would not join a government as an ideological stance, but that if could reach an informal agreement to support a government from outside. Polls suggest that the Joint Arab List could be the third largest Knesset faction. In other election news, the NRG website says that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid has promised that Jerusalem will never be divided, while Likud officials have apparently scoffed at Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman’s claim that he will be the next defence minister.