In the International and UK media today, most papers report on the public address given by Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday. Assad blamed “foreign conspiracies” supported by the Arab states as the reason for the crisis in his country. The Scotsman notes that the Israeli army has prepared for a post-Assad Syria and is preparing for an influx of refugees into the Golan Heights if Assad’s regime is toppled. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that an Israeli think tank ran the scenario of Iran with nuclear weapon capabilities. The Independent reports that Israeli veterans of the Lehi Jewish underground military organisation during the 1940’s are protesting against a current play running in Israeli theatres due to the depiction of the organisation in a brutal, negative light. The Daily Telegraph and BBC Online report on draft legislation in the Israeli Knesset that would make it a crime to use the word Nazi or Holocaust symbols for purposes other than teaching.

In the Israeli press, the Jerusalem Post front page reports on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s televised speech yesterday where he criticised the Arab League and vowed to strike down anti-government protesters. All front pages also carry a piece on a protest against racial discrimination by the Ethiopian community that took place in Kiryat Malachi yesterday.

The Jerusalem Post notes that British Minister to the Middle East Alistair Burt addressed students at the Bar Ilan University yesterday and stressed that the UK is a leading force in the international community to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities. The paper also notes that King Abdullah of Jordan met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Quartet envoy Tony Blair separately in efforts to push forward with Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Haaretz and Ynetnews notes that IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence committee yesterday that the army is preparing for an influx of Syrian refugees into the Golan Heights if the Syrian regime is toppled.