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Media Summary

20/04/2015

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The Telegraph, Independent and Independent i all report comments made yesterday by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who claimed that the United States “created the myth of nuclear weapons” in order to demonize Iran. The Telegraph also notes that a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander also ruled out allowing international inspectors to visit secretive Iranian nuclear sites or indeed any military installations, saying that such a prospect would mean “humiliating a nation.” The same publication also says that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned again yesterday against the nascent nuclear deal with Iran, arguing that ending Tehran’s aggression must be among the terms to an agreement.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times says that it the wake of the ongoing negotiations between the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran, in which sanctions against Tehran are expected to be relaxed or entirely scrapped, Americans are being hosted in Iran as potential investors.

The Telegraph reports that Israel has agreed to hand over more than £300 million worth of tax revenue collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which had been withheld in response to the PA’s application to join the International Criminal Court.

The Guardian, Times, Independent i and the Daily Mail all preview today’s launch of the Scottish National Party manifesto, in which the party is expected to commit itself to the UK’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state.

In Syria, the Times says that only 6,000 people are left in the Yarmouk district to the south of Damascus, which was home largely to Palestinian refugees. An estimated 170,000 people lived there before the start of the Syrian Civil War, but the area has been a launching pad for opposition attacks on government facilities, prompting bombing by the Assad regime and more recently has seen a takeover by ISIS. Meanwhile, the Times reports that a couple from Slough and their four children are suspected of having travelled to reach ISIS-controlled Syria.

In the Israeli media, the latest attempts by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud Party to form a coalition is a significant item. Israel Radio news says that Netanyahu is expected to ask President Reuven Rivlin today for a two-week extension in forming a coalition. However, Yediot Ahronot speculates that Likud might reach agreement with ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, plus Kulanu by tomorrow evening. Maariv in particular reports an impasse in talks with Jewish Home, with party leader Naftali Bennett irked at Likud’s intention to hand the Religious Affairs Ministry to Shas.

Israel Hayom leads with the build up to Remembrance Day, which begins tomorrow evening. Its front page is dominated by a picture of IDF soldiers who at this time each year place small Israeli flags on the graves of each of Israel’s fallen soldiers, under the headline “With longing and respect.”

There is also prominent coverage of the fallout from a Health Ministry report which revealed a very high cancer rate in the Haifa area, which it is presumed is linked to the poor air quality around the city. The report itself is a major story in Haaretz, while Maariv focuses on the claims by Haifa’s Mayor Yona Yahav that data was hidden from his office.  Yediot Ahronot leads with the headline “The cancer failure” and commentator Ariella Ringel-Hoffman points the finger at Yahav for having “manipulated the majority into working against” those who raised concerns, “the people whom he defined as screaming panic-mongers.”