BBC News Online reports that Austria’s foreign ministry has recalled an employee from its embassy in Israel after he posted a picture of himself on social media wearing a T-shirt bearing the name of a Nazi tank division. A screenshot of Jürgen-Michael Kleppich’s post on Facebook reportedly showed his green shirt with the words “Stand your ground” and “Frundsberg”. Kleppich is a member of the far-right Freedom Party, the junior coalition partner in Austria’s government. The attaché, who had been sent temporarily to the embassy in Tel Aviv, was summoned to “clarify all circumstances” of the case, Austria’s Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl told broadcaster ORF. Frundsberg was a German Waffen-SS armoured division during World War Two. The picture was revealed by Austria’s Falter weekly, which added that Kleppich had previously posted a photo of his grandfather in a Nazi uniform, complete with a swastika.

The Times, the Guardian, BBC News Online, the Telegraph, the Independent, the Financial Times  and the Daily Mail via AP report that US President Donald Trump will replace US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster with Bush-era defence hawk and former UN Ambassador John Bolton. Trump tweeted to thank General McMaster, saying he had done an “outstanding job & will always remain my friend”. Bolton, who has backed attacking North Korea and Iran, told Fox News his job would be to ensure the President has “the full range of options”. Bolton reportedly held talks with Trump on Thursday.

The Financial Times reports that the first commercial flight to Israel over Saudi Arabian airspace landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, the latest sign of the warming relations between Israel and the Gulf state. Air India flight 139 from New Delhi touched down at Ben Gurion International Airport after passing over Oman and Saudi Arabia, which have no formal relations with Israel, according to Flightradar24, an online site that tracks flights worldwide. The Boeing 787 is the first commercial flight to fly to Israel through Saudi airspace since the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948. Air India said on 7 March that it had received the necessary approvals from Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom’s civil aviation authority did not comment on the approval. Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin described the direct flight from New Delhi to Tel Aviv as a “marketing revolution” that would bring record numbers of tourists to Israel. He made no mention of the flight path. But on Thursday, he told Israel’s Army Radio that Singapore Airlines and a carrier from the Philippines, which he did not name, were considering introducing flights to Tel Aviv through Saudi airspace. News that Air India’s direct flights to Israel would pass over Saudi Arabia first emerged last month. Officials from the three countries initially denied the reports.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that a man wanted for a bombing that targeted the Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister’s convoy as he visited Gaza last week was killed in a firefight on Thursday with Hamas forces, the militant Islamic group that rules the territory said. The Interior Ministry in Gaza said the suspect, Anas Abu Khousa, aged 26, refused to surrender when Hamas surrounded his hideout. It said Abu Khousa was killed in the exchange of fire along with two Hamas policemen. Another suspect later died of his wounds at a hospital, it said.

The Times and the Sun report that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was a member of a second pro-Palestine Facebook group in which antisemitic remarks were posted. The Labour leader belonged to“History of Palestine,” on which other people posted anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, according to the Guido Fawkes website. He is said to have been added to the group in 2014 and quit it yesterday after media reports about his membership. Corbyn is not thought to have posted any comments himself. Labour vowed this month to discipline members who posted antisemitic comments in a different pro-Palestinian Facebook group of which Corbyn was previously an active member. On the History of Palestine group there are posts with links to conspiracies attacking the Rothschilds, including one shared in 2015 that called the prominent Jewish family “the true leaders of the planet earth” and another in 2014 that was headlined “Rothschild Zionist agenda and new world order”. Another post from 2016 linked to an article that was headlined, “Jewish organ trafficking centre where kidnapped Syrians are stripped of their entire bodies”. Corbyn’s spokesman said: “Jeremy condemns antisemitism in all its forms in the strongest possible terms. He was added to this group without his knowledge.”

The Daily Mail and BBC News Online report that an Israeli teenager has been arrested at Auschwitz for urinating on a memorial commemorating victims of the Holocaust. The 19-year-old man had been on a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp in Poland when he was seen relieving himself. Witnesses said he urinated on a monument near the ruins of the crematoria in the Birkenau part of the former Nazi camp. He was spotted by a guide in the grounds who alerted guards and police, the Times of Israel report. The young man was arrested by police yesterday and held for several hours. He was released later after accepting a fine of  $1,500 (£1,063), the newspaper reports.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that UBQ, an Israeli company, has patented a process to convert household waste, diverting waste from landfills into reusable bio-based plastic. After five years of development, the company is bringing its operations online, with hopes of revolutionising waste management and being a driver to make landfills obsolete. It remains to be seen, however, if the technology really works and is commercially viable.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that in Israel, Paddington Bear eats his marmalade on matzo. On some posters advertising the new film, “Paddington 2,” the British movie creation is being given a kosher-for-Passover makeover. Elsewhere, Paddington Bear holds his trademark bread and marmalade sandwich shaped as a 2. In Israel, his marmalade is spread on a 2-shaped matzo – the unleavened bread eaten during Passover.

The Times reports that Simon Coveney has weighed into a dispute involving a pro-Palestine group and an attempt by Israel to deny it access to banking facilities. The Tánaiste (deputy head of government of Ireland) has expressed concern that the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) might be unable to function if it cannot access its accounts. Coveney was responding to demands by Gilad Erdan, the Israeli Minister for Public Security and Strategic Affairs, that AIB (Allied Irish Banks), which is 71 per cent owned by the Irish state, and Franklin Templeton Investments, an American company that is one of the bank’s largest shareholders, ceases to do business with IPSC. He said the group’s backing of the “boycott, divestment, sanctions” (BDS) movement in support of Palestinians was “discriminatory and antisemitic”. In reply to a parliamentary question by Seán Crowe, a Sinn Féin politican, Coveney said he had not been lobbied on the issue. The tánaiste said: “The government would be disappointed if a civil society organisation in this country engaging in lawful activities, including advocacy on non-violent policies, was unable to function due to banking difficulties, even if the government does not agree with the views they might espouse.” While he said the government did not support the BDS policy, he said it was a legitimate, non-violent political viewpoint which he accepted Israel regarded as hostile. Coveney said the Irish government opposed the BDS policy because it did not make a distinction between the state of Israel and illegal settlements in occupied territories.

The Times reports that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt said that he would have liked “ten opponents” in the election next week, even though seven potential rivals were either jailed or withdrew their nominations. Political debate has been tightened before the election on Monday, when al-Sisi is assured of a landslide to begin a second four-year term. He urged people at a rally to vote, to prove that the country was “ruled by its people”. One of his two most credible opponents, however, Sami Anan, the former chief of staff, continued to be held in a military prison for announcing his candidature without informing the army of his intention to run. Hisham Geneina, his campaign manager and the former anti-corruption chief, was arrested when he claimed that Anan had documents implicating the regime in crimes. Sisi’s other main opponent, Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister, disappeared soon after announcing his intention to stand, then appeared on Egyptian television to withdraw.

The Telegraph, BBC News Online and the Guardian report that around 200 opposition fighters and family members have left the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta after agreeing with Russian and Syrian officials to be exiled to Idlib, in northern Syria. Up to 7,500 fighters and their families will be deported as part of the deal, which followed assurances from Russian military officers that other civilians in the Harasta neighbourhood could remain in their homes. One of the other remaining Syrian rebel groups in the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus, has also announced a ceasefire. The Faylaq al-Rahman group said the UN-brokered truce was to begin in the south of the enclave at 22:00 GMT. It said the move would allow talks with the Russian military, Syria’s ally, about guarantees for the safety of civilians.

In the Israeli media, Maariv and Israel Hayom report the Prime Minister’s speech last night to supporters in Tel Aviv. Maariv dubbed it the “Bitter speech” as Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the bitter herbs eaten at the Passover meal. The Prime Minister claimed that a “witch hunt” was being conducted against him and that his detractors were “relentlessly, heavy-handedly pressuring the law enforcement officials” to bring down his government. Netanyahu promised that in a future election his Likud party would get at least 40 seats. “Now everyone sees it — the Likud is the largest and strongest party in Israel. Together we will continue to lead Israel for many years.”

Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot and Maariv report that MK Tamar Zandberg has been elected as the new leader of the Meretz party. The party held a primary for the first time, in which she won with a convincing majority of 71 per cent of the votes. Her opponent Avi Buskila, former director general of Peace Now, won 28 per cent. Zandberg said in her victory speech that it was not her day, but Meretz’s day. She said: “We are back in the political playing field, we are an alternative again, and Meretz will lead a revolution.”

Yediot Ahronot continues to analyse the details of Israel’s strike against a Syrian nuclear reactor a decade ago. The paper reports that the State Comptroller’s report into the incident revealed an “Intelligence Failure”. The paper reveals that in 2007 the State Comptroller’s Office wrote a highly confidential report that was submitted to then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that found serious flaws in the work of the intelligence agencies resulting in a “strategic surprise”. The delay in the discovery of the Syrian nuclear reactor was a “resounding intelligence failure”.

In the commentary the paper reflects on this week’s coverage and notes, “the most embarrassing thing was to see the former prime minister, and mainly the former defence minister, both of whom have been outside the establishment for a long time, managing to turn a success that could have been generously shared among everyone, into a battlefield awash with bad blood, jealousy and reciprocal unsupportiveness.”

Haaretz includes a report based on the Intercept  that claims Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman allegedly bragged to the Emirati crown prince and others that US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and special advisor, Jared Kushner, was “in his pocket”. They report that after Kushner’s unannounced trip to Riyadh in October, in which the two stayed up until 4 am planning strategy, the “Crown Prince Mohammed told confidants that Kushner had discussed the names of Saudis disloyal to the crown prince, according to three sources who have been in contact with members of the Saudi and Emirati royal families since the crackdown”. Kushner, through his attorney’s spokesperson, denies having done so. A week after Kushner’s trip, the Crown Prince launched the “Saudi Purge” against the Kingdom’s political and business elite under the guise of anti-corruption efforts.

Maariv report the latest polling from the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, showing that 70 per cent of the public opposes pardoning the Prime Minister, should he confess to the allegations against him and resign. Fifty-five per cent of the respondents said that if Netanyahu were indicted, he must resign. Sixty-two per cent said that they did not believe the Prime Minister’s mantra that “there will be nothing because there is nothing,” while 50 per cent of the respondents said that they trusted the professionalism of the police in the investigations into Netanyahu, in contrast with 45 per cent who said they did not trust it. Fifty-four per cent trust the attorney general to deliver a professional ruling in Netanyahu’s cases, and 55 per cent trust the legal establishment’s professionalism and integrity.