The BBC, The Times, the Guardian report on the meeting of Labour’s ruling body to discuss whether to adopt in full the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The BBC note that Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he hoped the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) would adopt all the examples, whilst the Guardian say the NEC is expected to adopt the IHRA definition in full, although the precise form that the clarification will take has yet to be resolved. BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said the NEC may also make it clear that the adoption of the IHRA examples would not lead to the retrospective disciplining of party members. The Times, the Independent and the Telegraph lead on the successful re-election of Peter Willsman to the NEC, despite being dropped by Momentum after his comments that Jewish “Trump fanatics” were behind allegations of antisemitism in Labour were leaked.

The Times lead on Joan Ryan, the chairwoman of Labour Friends of Israel, facing a motion of no-confidence in her Enfield North constituency later this week. The motion, which has been tabled by local activists, complains about her criticisms of Jeremy Corbyn over the antisemitism crisis, says: “Our MP has smeared his character without him having the right to a fair and balanced defence. The article quotes Joan Ryan’s response to the motion: “I joined this party 34 years ago to fight racism. Antisemitism is racism. Nothing will stop me standing up and speaking out. It is my duty to do so.” Momentum has called for rule changes to make it easier for local members to deselect sitting MPs. Jeremy Corbyn told ITV News yesterday: “Clearly there have to be some changes and more democratic accountability of everyone within the party.”

The Telegraph report on an apology from an Israeli public broadcaster for playing the music of antisemitic composer Richard Wagner. Classical radio station Kol HaMusica on Friday broadcast Wagner’s “Twilight of the gods” (Gotterdammerung) despite the country’s boycott, prompting a number of complaints from listeners. While there is no law in Israel banning the German composer’s works from being played, orchestras and venues refrain from doing so because of the public outcry and disturbances accompanying past attempts.

The BBC report on the new smoking ban in Israel. Smoking tobacco is now prohibited in all government offices, courts, religious councils, hospitals and clinics, and the ban will also be applied to concerts, demonstrations, public swimming pools, open-air sports facilities, playgrounds, zoos, car parks and all open-air events attended by more than 50 people. World Health Organisation figures from 2016 said that 25.4 per cent Israelis over the age of 15 smoke, compared to the world average of 21.9 per cent.

The Times, the Guardian, the Independent, and the BBC report US President Donald Trump’s warning of an imminent Syrian offensive in Idlib province. In a tweet, Trump warned of “a grave humanitarian mistake” in which hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. The tweet followed a call by Iran yesterday for militants to be “cleaned out” of the province. Iran is set to host a summit on Friday at which the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey will discuss Idlib, Fars news agency reported. The Telegraph report the Israeli Defence Minister’s warning that it would “contend” with Iranian provocations wherever they are found. “We are certainly monitoring everything that is happening in Syria, and regarding Iranian threats we are not limiting ourselves just to Syrian territory. This also needs to be clear,” Avidgor Lieberman told a conference in Jerusalem.

The Times‘s Richard Spencer writes a war between Israel and Hezbollah is unlikely as both sides have too much to lose despite no shortage of arms and animosity in the region. Spencer says that Israel and its supporters in the Trump administration are instead developing a new strategy that aims to combat Hezbollah’s financial and military support from Tehran, as well as imposing wide-ranging sanctions against Lebanon itself, in the hope that bringing down its fragile economy will also destroy Hezbollah.

The Independent lead on Pilipinne President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Israel. The article notes the warm embrace of Duterte, who once compared himself to Hitler, is adding to mounting criticism of the Prime Minister’s close ties with authoritarian world leaders.  Duterte has faced widespread criticism for his deadly crackdown on drugs back home which has left thousands dead and for several foul-mouthed comments, including comparing his war on drugs to the Holocaust, and most recently joking about rape.

In the Israeli media all newspapers report the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit to Israel. Yesterday he visited Yad Vashem at the ceremony he kindled the eternal flame in the Hall of Remembrance and laid a wreath. Maariv notes his chequered history as a leader who has in the past compared himself to Hitler. In the paper’s commentary they note Israel’s alliances with questionable partners is not new, one of the examples, “even Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, realised that in order to survive in the violent neighbourhood of the Middle East, Israel needed allies, arms suppliers and investors in its economy. Under his leadership, Israel plotted with the colonial powers of France and Britain to fight Egypt in the 1956 Sinai Campaign.” The paper notes, “Israel makes a simple trade-off with dictators and controversial extreme right wing regimes—we will give you international legitimacy, we’ll whitewash the anti-Semitism or racism of your countries, we’ll sell you weapons and defence knowhow and we’ll help you in our common battle against Muslim terrorism. In return, you will vote for us in the UN and in other international forums” However the paper concludes, “the world is hypocritical and even other enlightened Western countries, such as France, Germany or Britain, don’t hesitate to sell arms to problematic regimes. Israel has another advantage by means of which it promotes its policy. It promises the leaders of these countries that it will enlist world Jewry on their behalf, or at least the Jewish, non-liberal right wing and open doors for them to the White House of its friend Donald Trump.”

Haaretz reports that newly elected President of Colombia Ivan Duque said that his predecessor’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state was “irreversible.”  He went on to explain, “Because the president of the republic is the person designated by the constitution to manage foreign relations.” He also reconfirmed his support for a two-state solution, saying, “Since the Oslo Accords, I always believed the solution for the Middle East is the two-state solution,” he said. “This would help a lot. But obviously, the discussion has become more difficult every time because of the presence of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”

Israel Hayom follows up on yesterday’s report that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas revealed that the US proposed the idea of a confederation with Jordan and that he had agreed on condition that it be a Jordanian-Israeli-Palestinian confederation. This met with criticism and denunciation from senior officials in Jordan, Ramallah and Arab Israeli MKs. The newspaper also reports that an American source close to the White House said that the peace plan would not be presented in the near future.

Kan radio news reports a group of  Joint List MKs is scheduled to meet today with senior EU officials, among them EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, and will ask them to denounce the nation-state law in EU and UN institutions. The Joint List announced that it would demand recognition of the Arab Palestinian national minority in Israel in keeping with the European announcement recognising minorities’ rights. The Joint List will also ask that Lehava and Kahane Chai are added to the the European list of terror organisations and to bar activists from these organisations from entering EU countries.

Yediot Ahronot reports that the ships sailing to Gaza in the recent flotilla and intercepted by the Israeli navy will be sold and the money be given to bereaved families. Families of victims murdered in terror attacks are entitled to compensation of tens of millions of shekels from Hamas but are unable to collect. A few days ago the court ruled that the ships would be sold at public auction and that the money would be divided between two families represented by the Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center. However, the anticipated sum from the sale of both ships is about 150,000 euros. After deducting various fees and taxes, each family member will receive the sum of a few thousand shekels. “This is far from the tens of millions the court ruled we should get,” said one family member, “but as far as we’re concerned, this is just the beginning. Now the world will know that there is a price for Hamas’s intolerable crimes.”

Today’s political cartoon in Maariv depicts Jeremy Corbyn having his eye-sight tested, with the optician pointing to the board with a swastika on it.  Corbyn says, “I see the letter L for Labour four times”.