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Media Summary

Erdogan calls the US a “partner in bloodshed”

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The Independent, Telegraph, BBC News Online and the Guardian all report that the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the EU to recognise Jerusalem as the country’s capital.

The Independent reports on comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that included him calling the US a “partner in bloodshed” after President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The Guardian reports that a series of prominent writers, actors and musicians have written a letter to the paper condemning President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem. The authors claims that the move will help to further an Israeli “agenda” to “erase Palestinians as a political and cultural presence from the life of their own city”. Signatories include Tilda Swinton, Mark Ruffalo, Roger Waters, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno.

BBC News Online, Times and the Guardian reports that on a visit to Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans to partly withdraw troops from Syria and declared victory over ISIS.

The Guardian reports that Syrian opposition groups have urged Russia to apply pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resume peace talks in Geneva.

The Times reports that cinemas in Saudi Arabia are to open for the first time in three decades as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman continues in his efforts to “modernise and normalise” the state.

The Guardian features a special report into the conflict in Yemen. The paper reports that Saudi Arabia is deliberately targeting sources of food, such as civilian fishing operations, often with lethal force. The paper argues this tactic is intended to bomb the country into famine.

The Guardian reports that Amnesty International has claimed that EU is financing a Libyan system that routinely acts in collusion with militia groups and people traffickers making EU leaders “complicit” in the torture of refugees and migrants.

The FT reports that the deadline for US Congress to take action over the Iran nuclear deal expires on Tuesday, which may result in the deal’s fate returning to Trump’s hands.

The FT features a special report into doing business in the Arab world.

All the Israeli papers discuss the tension within the governing coalition as the Knesset passed the first reading of the Mini-markets bill. According to Yediot Ahronot the bill is intended to compensate the ultra-Orthodox for the crisis of the railroad maintenance work on the Sabbath. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas) threatened explicitly that if the bill did not pass in the Knesset, he would resign. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed last night after his visit to Brussels and headed straight for the Knesset to try to resolve the crisis and muster a majority for the controversial bill. The mini-markets bill, sponsored by Deri, seeks to give the Interior Minister powers to disqualify municipal bylaws, thereby enabling him to close mini-markets that are open on the Sabbath. As promised, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his Israel Beteinu party voted against the bill. Lieberman said: “I support Jewish values and Jewish tradition, but I’m firmly opposed to religious coercion. I make Kiddush (blessing over wine) on Friday night, and on Saturday I go to play tennis and go to the mini-market. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom prominently cover Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s announcement of a new plan for reducing customs duties on imported goods. The cost is estimated at NIS 800 billion for the coming year. Kahlon announced the plan while Prime Minister Netanyahu was out of the country, saying that it would save Israeli families at least several hundred shekels per year.

Israeli Hayom reports on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s message to a rally of supporters in Beirut, where the crowds called for “death to US and Israel”.  H also declared an intifada until Jerusalem is liberated. Nasrallah said: “Today the axis of resistance, including Hezbollah, will return to its most important priority. Jerusalem and Palestine and the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance in all its factions.”

Maariv reports on Minister Lieberman’s attack on Joint Arab list MKs in the Knesset plenum, calling them war criminals. “As if Hamas would let you open your mouths. As if you could open your mouths in Yemen. Here in Israel you exploit the weaknesses and the advantages of a democratic state in order to destroy us from within. We have no illusions. You are illegitimate. You are here by mistake. The day will come and you will be in Gaza under Hamas, and in Ramallah. Your place is not here, you are here by mistake,” the Minister said. Joint List Chairman Ayman Odeh said that Lieberman’s comments about Arab Israelis were a racist generalisation. “Everyone knows that ultra-orthodox throw stones, that settler demonstrations are terrible, but nobody wants to move an entire population from their homeland unless it pertains to Arabs.”

Kan radio news report the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Lithuanian branch, Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, died this morning, aged 104. He was a prominent leader and the supreme spiritual authority of the Lithuanians. He was the President of Degel Hatorah’s Council of Torah Sages. Degel Hatorah has three representatives in the Knesset as part of United Torah Judaism. Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend his funeral this afternoon in Bnei Brak. Haaretz referred to him as the “greatest Rabbi of his generation”.

Israel Hayom and Yediot Ahronot follow the controlled explosion of 300 landmines on the Golan Heights, laid by the Syrian army prior to the Six-Day War in 1967. The mine clearing effort is part of a campaign to ensure the area is safe for hikers.