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Media Summary

Iraqi and Kurdish forces clash in Kirkuk

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The Mail Online and the Times report Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criticism of Israeli Police Chief Roni Alsheikh concerning leaks from the investigations into Netanyahu’s alleged corruption. Netanyahu wrote on Facebook on Saturday that “illegal leaks have become a tsunami” and have sparked a “witch hunt”.

The BBC News online and BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Sky NewsGuardian, Times and Telegraph all report that Iraqi Government forces have advanced on Kirkuk’s oil fields and air base. Iraqi state TV claims that “vast areas” of the region have been seized, a claim that is disputed by the Kurdish autonomous government in Erbil. Both sides have reported exchanges of Katyusha rocket fire and Peshmerga forces have reportedly been injured in clashes.

The Mail Online report on comments made by Prime Minister Netanyahu to the Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem on Sunday. The Prime Minister reflected positively on the close ties and staunch support for Israel in the evangelical world.

The Independent reports that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that other world leaders were wrong to give into Israeli “pressure” to boycott Hamas after it won the Palestinian elections in 2006. In an interview with the Observer ahead of a new book by the former Prime Minister, Blair said that “In retrospect, I think we should have, right at the very beginning, tried to pull [Hamas] into a dialogue and shifted their positions. I think that’s where I would be in retrospect”.

The Mail Online reports the launch of a new $10m US project to improve access to wastewater treatment and water for Palestinian farmers in the Jericho area of the West Bank.

Two open letters were published in the Observer on Sunday. The first, signed by 43 academics from the University of Manchester expresses concern over the University’s handling of a talk given by a Holocaust survivor and organised by the student Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which they believe to have been “arrogantly censored”. The signatories assert that this amounts to “serious infringements of the right to freedom of speech on campus” and expresses concerns over the role of Israeli ambassador Mark Regev in the incident. The talk went ahead, but under the provision the title was changed due to being “unduly provocative” and the content recorded, after the Israeli Embassy raised concerns that the title of the talk, “You’re doing to the Palestinians what the Nazis did to me,” risked promoting antisemitism and hate speech on campus. The second letter, signed by Prof. Avi Shalim and six others including Sir Geoffrey Bindman and Ken Loach, protests Prof. Moshe Machover’s expulsion from the Labour party over charges of antisemitism.

Haaretz reports the fighting in Kirkuk, where Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are confronting Iraqi Government forces and Shia militias for control and access to some of the region’s main oilfields. Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani arrived in the area yesterday, the paper notes he is the “commander of foreign operations for Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, providing training and weapons to Iraqi paramilitary groups backing the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad, known as Popular Mobilisation”.

Yediot Ahronot leads on a new Likud initiative to promote a bill that would prohibit investigating a serving Prime Minister. If it were to become law, it would start from the Prime Minister’s next term. Maariv also reports this bill but notes Finance Minister Kahlon’s condition for supporting it would be set a term limit on any serving Prime Minister.

Maariv continues to focus on the tension between the Prime Minister and the Police Commissioner after the Prime Minister accused the police of leaking details relating to investigations into his alleged corruption. The paper notes on this occasion there were no actual leaks, only a recurring report on Channel Two News that Netanyahu would be summoned for questioning again. Israel Hayom leads with an appeal to “Stop the Leaks” and notes Minister for Internal Security Gilad Erdan instructing the attorney general to investigate the source of the leaks in the cases against the Prime Minister.

Israel Hayom reports that a 17-year-old Palestinian attempted to enter a Military Court while carrying an explosive device in his underwear. Security forces at the entrance of the court prevented the suspect from entering and transferred him for investigation while the pipe bomb was neutralized in a controlled explosion.

Yediot Ahronot and Maariv report on the rocket fire into Israel last night from the Sinai. Security forces continue to sweep the area to locate the second rocket. No one was injured and no damage was caused. Haaretz notes that according to the Palestinian unity agreement, Hamas has committed not to fire rockets or carry out terror attacks against Israel.

Kan Radio News suggest the police will most likely recommend that an indictment for fraud be lodged against Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (Shas), his wife Yafa, and his brother Shlomo.