The FT reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rebuked Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely for comments she made about the relationship between US Jews and the Military.

The FT reports that Iribnews, an arm of Iran’s state television channel, has attempted to escalate the case against imprisoned UK citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe by showing documents which it claims prove she was leading a “secret, high-security project” to undermine the Iranian regime.

BBC News Online has published an analysis of the factors shaping the “covert alliance” between Israel and Saudi Arabia by Jonathan Marcus. The article highlights the mutual concerns over Iran and retrenchment of the Trump administration, but Marcus concludes that “if the Saudi-Israel relationship is to emerge blinking into the sunlight, there needs to be progress on the Palestinian front”.

BBC News Online notes that Iraqi forces are in the final push to clear the desert near the Syrian border of ISIS.

The Guardian, Times and BBC News Online report that Saudi Arabia has not fulfilled its pledge to open access for humanitarian aid workers in Northern Yemen.

The Guardian reports that criminal charges have been dropped against a group of protesters who blocked the entrance to a factory producing engines for drones in Staffordshire. The drones produced by the facility are used by the Israeli military.

The Guardian also reports that Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told a counterterrorism conference in London yesterday that authoritarian rulers and a lack of human rights were the cause of terrorism in the Middle East. Al-Thani also claimed that Qatar is a more reliable ally of the West in the fight against terror than “impulsive, crisis-making” Saudi Arabia.

The Times follows up yesterday’s Vanity Fair story  that the UK ban on laptops in airplane cabins from certain Middle East was initiated after intelligence was shared by Israel following an Israeli commando raid inside Syria to  plant a listening device in an ISIS unit.

The Independent reports that officials at Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, were informed by their US counterparts that Russia holds leverage over US President Donald Trump.

The Mail Online reports that the Palestinian national football team has climbed above Israel in the FIFA world rankings for the first time.

All the Israeli media feature the controversy over remarks by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, in which she claimed that American Jews do not understand the complexity of the region and most don’t have children serving as soldiers. Yediot Ahronot has a front page headline that “parents of US-born fallen lone soldiers said our children laid down their lives for the country”. Haaretz reports that Jewish Communities are calling for her dismissal while Israel Hayom headlines the “wall-to-wall condemnation of Hotovely”.

The Israeli media also focuses on the continuing controversy about rail maintenance work over Shabbat. Israel Hayom reports that overnight negotiations to reach a resolution did not lead to a breakthrough. Yediot Ahronot’s headline says “soldiers: ‘our Sabbath will be ruined because of politicians’ fights’”. Kan Radio News this morning reported that efforts to reach a compromise will continue today, with reports that Minister Litzman (of the ultra-Orthodox UTJ party) is sticking to his threat to resign unless all of the planned work is cancelled. The Jerusalem Post reports that a “deal over Shabbat coalition crisis is close, but still not finalised,” with discussions to continue this morning.

Maariv and Haaretz focus on statements by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit at a legal conference at Haifa University. Mandelblit said that bills that were meant to change the balance between the branches of government did not promote governability, but rather undermined it, adding that the State Attorney’s Office worked only in keeping with professional considerations and without outside influence. Mandelblit’s comments were echoed by his predecessors Yehuda Weinstein and Yitzhak Zamir, with Zamir arguing that “the political involvement [in the justice system] could undermine the public’s confidence in the gatekeepers”.

Israel Hayom reports that the police will recommend indicting former Deputy National Security Advisor Avriel Bar Yosef for bribery.

Haaretz publishes testimonies of asylum seekers that Israel has sent back to Eritrea.