The Guardian reports that Moshe Ya’alon officially stood down yesterday from his post as Israel’s defence minister with a ceremony at defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, where he addressed the IDF General Staff and ministry officials. Ya’alon resigned on Friday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that an agreement had been reached for Yisrael Beitenu to enter the coalition, with party leader Avigdor Lieberman set to become defence minister. Ya’alon had been expected to be offered the position of foreign minister but has opted to resign from the Knesset entirely. Meanwhile, the coalition agreement between Netanyahu’s Likud and Yisrael Beitenu has not yet been finalised.

The Daily Mirror reports that UK aviation and counter-terrorism officials will visit Israel next month to discuss upgrading airport security. Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport is widely considered to be a model of discreet yet effective security.

The Times says that Israel is to return two 3,600-year-old sarcophagi lids to Egypt, which were uncovered at an East Jerusalem antiquities dealer five years ago. At the time, Israel and Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood regime endured strained relations, but will now return the artefacts in a gesture of goodwill towards the al-Sisi government, with which it enjoys relatively warm ties.

The Metro includes a feature on Tel Aviv as a hot tourist destination, highlighting the city’s party venues and rich selection of museums.

The Guardian includes a feature on a new photographic exhibition “Occupied Pleasures”, which focuses on the wide range of leisure activities enjoyed by Palestinians, away from the media focus of conflict. It includes Palestinian bodybuilders, surfers and a female drag racing team.

Meanwhile, the Times online reports that Russian warplanes have pounded the Syrian city of Aleppo in the heaviest aerial bombardment there for three months. Apparently, Russia has threatened further air strikes against terror and opposition groups who do not sign a “cessation of hostilities” agreement by 25 May. The Independent online says that according to the London-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, at least 60,000 people have died in Syrian prisons during the past five years of civil war.

In the Israeli media, the fall-out from Yisrael Beitenu’s impending entry into the government continues to be the leading item. Maariv and Israel Hayom both focus on Netanyahu’s comments yesterday, in which he criticised the media for “fear-mongering” and “whining” over Avigdor Lieberman’s perceived inexperience in military affairs and firebrand reputation. Netanyahu assured: “In the end, the prime minister is the one who navigates all of the systems.” Critiquing his comments, Ben Caspit in Maariv accuses Netanyahu of having “admitted to what we have been writing here for a long time: the system of government in Israel has changed. It is a monarchic regime… All the position holders around the prime minister are superfluous.”

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot says that the Knesset’s summer session will open today with a range of controversial legislation to be discussed during the coming months. Apparently, it includes a bill already proposed to suspend MKs for alleged support for terrorism and draft legislation spearheaded by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, which would force NGOs to more visibly identify if they receive foreign government funding. Haaretz says that a bill supported by Lieberman, to permit the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists will also be considered. However, it is widely thought that such an idea does not carry support across the coalition, while the Attorney General has indicated that he would veto such an initiative.

Another major item in Maariv, Haaretz and Yediot Ahronot is allegations that plain-clothes Border Police officers viciously beat a Bedouin man working in a Tel Aviv supermarket yesterday. The incident was caught on security cameras, while members of the public complained. Israel Radio news says that the man was suspected of attacking police when refusing to produce identification and was placed under two days’ house arrest having been released from hospital.