The BBC, the Times, the Guardian, the FT, the Economist, the Telegraph, Sky News, Reuters and Daily Mail all report on the Israeli Attorney General’s final decision to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in all three corruption cases, including bribery.

Anshel Pfeffer writes in The Times that should Netanyahu, 70, be convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 19 years in prison. For the immediate term, Pfeffer argues that the indictment aggravates the deadlock in Israel, which has had two elections in eight months without any winner emerging. Netanyahu continues as prime minister of an interim government and does not have to resign after the indictment, even though no prime minister has served under criminal charges.

Oliver Holmes from The Guardian breaks down the investigations into Netanyahu, who is scrambling to remain in power after failing to secure a clear win in two elections this year. The article notes a poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, carried out last month, found that 65% of Israelis thought Netanyahu should resign as head of the Likud party if indicted.

Mehul Srivastava in Tel Aviv and Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem write in The FT that Netanyahu’s charges threaten to end the prime minister’s career and deepen the country’s political woes. They argue that Netanyahu also face a possible challenge from within Likud with rival Gideon Sa’ar calling for party primaries to replace him.

Reuters reports that with the prospect of a third election in Israel in less than a year, it will be well into 2020 before a new budget is passed, triggering months of cutbacks that will weigh on economic growth.

Reuters reports that the Israeli central bank is expected to lower short-term interest rates next week for the first time in nearly five years in response to a stronger shekel that has helped to push the inflation rate close to zero.

Sky News reports that the UK has defied the US by urging Israel to stop its “counterproductive” expansion into the occupied West Bank. The Foreign Office has waded into the debate after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the White House was softening its position on Israeli settlements in the territory.

The Telegraph and Daily Mail report that the UK government is set to repatriate a group of three British orphans from Syrian territory formerly under the control of IS in the coming days. On Thursday, Dr Abdulkarim Omar, head of foreign relations in the Kurdish-led area of northern Syria said ‘three British orphans from ISIS parents were handed over to a delegation representing the British Foreign Ministry.’

Reuters reports that Iran on Thursday began restoring internet access in the capital Tehran and a number of provinces, news agencies and residents said, after a five-day-long nationwide shutdown meant to help stifle protests against fuel price hikes.

Reuters reports that Turkey is discussing with Russia how to address the continued presence of Kurdish YPG militants in areas covered by an agreement between the two countries, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.

The FT reports that Saudi Aramco’s initial IPO has received widespread support among middle-class Saudis.

Reuters reports that the UN nuclear watchdog’s top inspector will travel to Tehran next week to press Iran to finally explain the origin of uranium traces found at an undeclared site, the agency’s acting chief said on Thursday.

The Telegraph reports that more than 15 civilians, including six children, seeking shelter in a Syrian refugee camp near the Turkish border were killed on Wednesday after it was hit by ballistic missiles fired by pro-government forces.

Reuters reports that the Kremlin on Thursday distanced itself from a video showing four Russian-speaking men torturing, stabbing and beheading a Syrian man in 2017 and said the incident had nothing to do with Russia’s military.

Nahum Barnea in Yediot Ahronot said: “Netanyahu wasn’t born a criminal. Nor can it be said about him that he chose a criminal way of life. He got into trouble.”  He asks, “How does it happen that such a man sets up a supply line of luxury goods worth hundreds of thousands of shekels, bankrolled by two foreign businessmen? How does it happen that such a man conducts secret negotiations with his nemesis on promoting a bill in exchange for positive coverage in a newspaper? And in the most serious case, how does it happen that such a man arranges a favour worth close to a billion shekels for a local businessman, in exchange for subjugating a news website to his whims and to the whims of his son and wife? The answer is not related to intelligence. It goes to character: Netanyahu got confused. In his case, the ruler’s hubris encountered the mentality of the victim. This encounter was fatal….

The question as to whether the actions that Netanyahu is alleged to have committed, as they appear in the indictment, cross the criminal threshold, is one that must be decided in court. That is the place for this. But these actions are enough to cast a heavy shadow on Netanyahu continuing to serve as prime minister.”

Avika Bigman in Israel Hayom compares the police investigation into the state witnesses Nir Hefetz and Shlomo Filber (two former associates of the prime minister) as reminiscent of the techniques of the former Soviet Union. He reflects that the attorney general’s own admission,  “When he took office, he said, the investigators approached him with a collection of general information and suspicions and asked permission to open an investigation.  Although it was clear to him, he said, that if it was not for Netanyahu no one would be interested in these pieces of information, he approved the investigation. From here, everything started to deteriorate…. Next up was the adoption of the innovative thesis – a global precedent – that sympathetic coverage is a bribe, an idea born in the prosecution’s office.”  In his assessment without the evidence gleaned from aides computers the story would be “exciting gossip, but not criminal charges.”  He concludes, “Public confidence in the justice system is at a historic low, and recent events seem to have made a huge contribution to this.”

Haaretz editor, Aluf Benn, writes: “To Netanyahu, remaining in office is above everything, and anyone jeopardising that is a traitor, a saboteur. In his eyes, those who dared to investigate and indict him should themselves be investigated, and presumably imprisoned for undermining national security.”

Amit Segal from Channel 12 News writes in Yediot Ahronot: “Netanyahu failed twice in the attempt to form a government. Irrespective of the moral and legal questions, the prime minister’s political situation is painfully clear: His chances of reaching 61 seats are almost non-existent, and accordingly, so are his chances of forming a fifth government.” Sima Kadmon writes: “Just a few hours earlier the possibility of a unity government was still being discussed, last night this possibility was taken off the agenda for once and for all. Blue and White should thank its good fortune— or Yair Lapid —for the fact that it persisted in its refusal to serve in a government together with Netanyahu. One can only imagine how its members would have felt this morning had they yielded to the demands of the person who was charged yesterday with bribe-taking and breach of trust.”