With only a matter of days to go until Israel’s general election, the online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph both cover the latest polls which indicate that the Zionist Union has strengthened its lead over Likud. The Guardian online emphasises a sense of “rising panic” in Likud while the Telegraph online notes that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid confirmed yesterday that he will not support a government headed by Likud leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Explaining the apparent strengthening of Likud’s opponents, the Financial Times says that it is being fuelled primarily by high living costs. An editorial in the Guardian says that Netanyahu may have miscalculated when he decided to go to the polls, but that Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog “lacks authoritative charisma.” The editorial also calls for the Joint Arab List to be invited into a potential Herzog-led government. However, the faction has already ruled out joining any coalition.

The Guardian includes a feature on the decades of work carried out by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which campaigns particularly strongly against incidents of mistreatment of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The Times, Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star, Metro and Daily Mail cover the recently-released ISIS video which depicted the execution of an Arab citizen of Israel from East Jerusalem by a young boy. ISIS claimed that the man killed was a spy for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service. The Guardian and Metro both highlight that this has been stringently denied by the man’s family, who say he travelled to Syria without their knowledge to join ISIS but soon became disillusioned and attempted to escape.

Meanwhile, in coverage of the fourth anniversary of Syria’s brutal civil war, the Guardian online focuses on comments by the President of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition, who slammed the international community for its “cardboard” support of moderate opposition forces. The Guardian online also highlights United Nations figures which say that the conflict has resulted in 3.5 million Syrian refugees. Writing in the Guardian, Ian Black concludes that the Syrian violence is set to continue with no clear way to break the stalemate.

The Daily Express and Daily Star both report opposition to a planned three-day symposium at Southampton University which will question Israel’s right to exist. More than 3,000 people have signed a petition against the event and local MPs have also voiced their objections.

In the Israeli media, the last leg of the campaign takes centre stage. Haaretz emphasises that a poll it commissioned has reaffirmed a lead for the Zionist Union over Likud, while Yediot Ahronot’s headline says that candidates are “crisscrossing the country” to win late support. Also prominent in Yediot Ahronot is coverage of a press conference yesterday held by former-senior military and security figures who criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security record. However, Israel Radio news reports that Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon explained that former officials are not always up to date with the details pertaining to current threats.

In Maariv, Arik Bender reports an atmosphere of gloom and an expectation of impending defeat within Likud. He says, “The Likud’s grassroots activists are despondent, the activists aren’t making an effort and it seems that many of them have already resigned themselves to a possible defeat. Even worse, they don’t care if the Likud loses.” Channel Ten reported last night that despite their official denials, Likud officials are contemplating the possibility of a national unity government alongside Zionist Union with a rotating premier.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio news reports that the threat of a general strike in the south today has been averted, with all sides accepting a proposal for negotiations set out by the Labour Court.