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Media Summary

Biden blast’s PA’s “failure to condemn stabbings

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The Independent i and online edition of the Guardian cover comments made yesterday by US Vice President Joe Biden during his visit to Israel. Biden publicly criticised the Palestinian leadership’s “failure to condemn” Wednesday’s stabbings in three Israeli cities, one of which killed an American tourist and wounded at least 11 other people. Biden’s family was dining nearby the deadly attack in Jaffa as it took place.

The Telegraph, Sun, Evening Standard, Metro, New Day and the online edition of the Independent all report that the ballistic missiles tested by Iran on Wednesday, in contravention of United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions, had the words “Israel must be wiped out” written on them. The Telegraph also emphasises that US Vice President Joe Biden made clear yesterday that Washington “will act” if the missile tests are confirmed. In January, the United States imposed new sanctions on individuals and businesses in Iran involved in an October missile test.

Meanwhile, the Times online reports that an Iranian MP, Nader Qazinpour said in the wake of his recent election to the Iranian parliament, that, “The parliament is no place for babies and donkeys. The parliament is no place for women.”

The Times’ print edition says that Business Secretary Sajid Javid has urged British companies to do business in Iran, as he prepares to lead a large business delegation to the country. At the same time, Prime Minister David Cameron has apparently asked Barclays Bank for clarification over its hesitancy to grant loans to UK companies wishing to embark on trade with Iran.

In the Israeli media, in the wake of this week’s terror attacks, Yediot Ahronot focuses on criticism of government policy to tackle the violence from opposition leaders. Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman is quoted saying that the “terrorist offensive is the direct result of [Prime Minister] Netanyahu and [Defence Minister] Yaalon’s policy of containing terrorism.” Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Sima Kadmon says that even some Likud members believe that, “Netanyahu comes across as someone who has come to terms with this Intifada, someone who’s resigned himself to accepting it—‎that is the sense within the political establishment.”

However, the top story in Yediot Ahronot, which is also covered prominently in Haaretz, Maariv and Israel Hayom is the accidental killing of a Shin Bet officer by a colleague, who mistook him for a terrorist during an operation near the border with the Gaza Strip. Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen spoke yesterday at Amir Maimoni’s funeral and said that a full investigation would be conducted on every level to prevent future tragic mistakes.

Israel Radio news says that France’s new Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayraul appeared to backtrack on his predecessor Laurent Fabius’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state if a proposed French-initiated regional peace conference does not bear fruit this summer. Paris has said that it wishes to host the peace summit, which it hopes will reignite a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. However, Israeli leaders sharply criticised Fabius’s pledge, saying that it offered the Palestinians no incentive to make concessions, in the knowledge that belligerence would bring recognition. Ayraul made his comments in Egypt’s capital Cairo, where he is canvasing support for France’s peace initiative.