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Media Summary

Russia to sell fighter jets to Egypt

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The Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and The Times report on a war of words between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The Guardian reports that the Australian Prime Minister has reacted furiously to comments by the Turkish President, invoking Gallipoli to denounce anti-Islamic sentiment, warning that “all options are on the table” due to the offensive remarks. Scott Morrison said Australia will review its travel advisory for Turkey, a threat that could see Australians directed not to travel to Turkey for Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli, attended by thousands every year on 25 April. In inflammatory comments on Monday, Erdoğan suggested that anyone who comes to Turkey with anti-Muslim sentiments would be sent back in coffins, “like their grandfathers were” during the Gallipoli campaign.

The Guardian reports that an Italian charity ship has defied the Italian Government to rescue 50 people off the Libyan coast, prompting  a warning that private vessels must stop “once and for all” from bringing rescued migrants to Italy. Volunteers on board the Mare Jonio pulled the migrants – reportedly including 12 children – from the dinghy, 40 nautical miles off the coast of Libya.

The Guardian and Reuters report that Israel’s far-right justice minister has released a campaign video for forthcoming elections in which she poses in a mock advertisement for a perfume called “Fascism”. The move appears to make light of criticism – including accusations of fascism – of Ayelet Shaked’s attempts to restructure the Israeli judiciary, which is seen as a barrier to her hard-right agenda. In the black and white video, Shaked saunters around in slow motion, her hair blowing as soft piano music plays in the background. Spritzing herself with a perfume labelled “Fascism”, she whispers her key policies in Hebrew: “Judicial reform … Restraining the supreme court.” Then, speaking to camera, she seems to suggest the bottle has been mislabelled: “To me, it smells like democracy.” Online reaction to the spoof has been mixed, with some non-Hebrew speakers taking the video literally. Others suggested the joke was too close to the truth, pointing to Shaked’s promotion of ultranationalist and authoritarian policies.

The Times reports that Moscow has signed a $1.5 billion contract to sell 20 of its new generation Su-35 fighter jets to Egypt as Moscow’s ties with Cairo grow closer. The two countries agreed a deal for the supply of the aircraft in December, two defence sources told the Russian newspaper Kommersant. Delivery of the aircraft will begin next year or in 2021. The sale could provoke retaliation against Cairo from the United States, which sanctioned China in September after it became the first foreign buyer of the same aircraft. The US wants to warn off other countries from purchasing Russian arms as part of its response to Moscow’s alleged “malign activities”.

The FT reports that the Algerian opposition is calling on the army to stay out of politics, with health workers, doctors and students marching to demand the president steps down. On Monday night, Algerian political leaders on the National Coordination for Change, a new body which backs the month-long protests against President Bouteflika, said the army should adhere to its constitutional role “without interfering in the people’s choice”. Algerian protesters have already rejected Bouteflika’s offer of a transition under his aegis which he made after weeks of demonstrations against plans for him to remain for a fifth term in office. Elections scheduled for April 18 were cancelled and Bouteflika said he would stay to oversee the transition.

Hussein Ibish writes in Bloomberg Opinion that the US shouldn’t endorse Israel’s annexation of the Golan. He argues that: “If the US endorses Israel’s annexation, the principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war — the most important principle of the UN charter — will be gone.” He adds, “Given the chaos in Syria, no one would ask Israel to make a territorial concession on the Golan Heights now. But that’s hardly a justification for a decades-old land grab. Like recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, confirming Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights is a solution in search of a problem. It would come at a steep cost and achieve nothing.”

The Independent, Daily Mail and Reuters report that ISIS’s caliphate is on the brink of defeat as Syrian forces take control of jihadist tent city. The Independent’s Middle East correspondent Richard Hall reports that US-backed Syrian forces are close to capturing the last territory under ISIS control, after taking most of a tent city where the group has made its last stand. Although scattered clashes were continuing on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the battle would end “very soon”. The battle to secure the last piece of the once mighty caliphate has gone on longer than anyone expected. Cornered in the small village of Baghouz, in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province, the group’s most experienced fighters have put up a fierce fight. The battle has stopped and started many times, but there are signs that the caliphate is seeing its last days.

The Independent reports that A 747 cargo jet suffered damage after it tipped backwards while parked on the tarmac in Doha airport in Qatar, when airport workers mistakenly unloaded the aircraft from its nose

Reuters reports that Israeli forces on Tuesday killed a Palestinian suspected of carrying out a deadly stabbing and shooting attack in the occupied West Bank two days earlier, the Israeli Shin Bet security service said. The assailant was killed after he opened fire at Israeli forces who had come to arrest him, the Shin Bet said. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed a person had been killed in the clash, but provided no further details.

Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest election rival, former army general Benny Gantz, said on Tuesday he would seek peace with the Palestinians but stopped short of endorsing their goal for statehood. When asked whether the ultimate goal would be that of a Palestinian state, Gantz did not give a definitive answer although he did suggest that eventually Israel should separate from the Palestinians.“At the end of the road there is a Jewish, democratic, safe and strong state with a solid Jewish majority and what happens on the other side would be an outcome of what happens at negotiations.”

The Guardian’s “Today in Focus” podcast reports from Gaza where an entire generation of Palestinians have spent their entire life fenced in. In “Generation Blockade”, Oliver Holmes says that the weekly protests have produced no tangible results and are starting to wane.

Yediot Ahronoth, Haaretz, Israel Hayom and Maariv all report that the man who shot and killed two people on Sunday was killed last night. The Shin Bet obtained information that led security forces to the house where fugitive Omar Abu Laila was hiding in the village of Abwein north of Ramallah yesterday. He opened fire while the security forces were encircling the house and he was killed in an exchange of fire with the special counterterrorist unit. None of the soldiers were injured.

Yediot Ahronoth, Haaretz, Israel Hayom and Maariv also all lead with the report that the State’s Witness in the submarine case, Mickey Ganor wask taken into custody after retracting his testimony. He now says he did not bribe anyone and that he had admitted to bribery because he was being pressured. He was questioned under caution yesterday, felt ill and then an ambulance took him to be treated at Assaf Harofeh Hospital. Yediot Ahronoth writes that the police believe that this statement is aimed at improving [the terms of] the agreement that he signed. According to the agreement, Ganor will have to serve one year in prison and pay a NIS 10 million fine in return for testifying in court.

Ganor was the representative for German submarine manufacturer ThyssenKrupp in Israel, and is considered to be the principal suspect in the submarine case. His modus operandi which was documented in the police’s recommendations to prosecute the people involved in the case were that he effectively provided bribes to a series of public servants and senior executives in order to promote his own interests. Yesterday he said they were not bribes, but legitimate payments.

Blue White Party leader Benny Gantz called on law enforcement agencies to reopen a probe into the submarine affair and shares that Netanyahu owned. Gantz said that he sincerely hoped that the Prime Minister was not involved in the affair, but that the matter had to be investigated. Likud replied that Gantz and his supporters in the media were continuing to disseminate a fraudulent libel against the Prime Minister.

Discussing the significance of the move, Ben Caspit in Maariv argues that: “Ganor signed a deal that allows the state to use any material he provided even if he were to choose to withdraw from the agreement. He gave a comprehensive statement and provided the police with documents, digital proof and detailed accounts of specific incidents. There isn’t a sane court in the world that might ignore all that, even if he were to back out of the agreement.” An article in Israel Hayom by Itzik Saban argues that this is the detectives worst nightmare and: “The police’s discomfiture was so tremendous that it was obliged to use its ‘heavy guns’ so that this prestigious case wouldn’t sink into the deep… One thing that is certain is that the police and the State Attorney’s Office now have a real headache on their hands.”

The media also extensively reports Benny Gantz’s TV interviews last night. Gantz answered questions about whether he would sit in a government with Netanyahu, the hack of his personal telephone, the submarines affair and other urgent issues. Gantz said: “We’re not ashamed to use the word peace.” But also said: “There’s no one to talk to at the moment” on the Palestinian side, Gantz wouldn’t say whether he supports a two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, telling Channel 13 “any channel that would let us” prevent “turning Israel into a bi-national state” would be endorsed by him. When asked about the coalition that he would form, were he to be tasked with that job, Gantz said that his coalition would be comprised of “anything that is Israeli, Jewish, that isn’t against the State of Israel, anything that isn’t extremist. I can’t stand seeing extremists. We can’t countenance people like Ben Gvir coming and telling stories about Baruch Goldstein.”

Discussing Gantz’s interview in Maariv, Ben Caspit writes that: “Gantz failed to persuade yesterday on several weak points: the embarrassing recording that was obtained by Seffi Ovadia [about whether he’d sit with Netanyahu]; the mobile phone affair (why did he need to say that he has his wife’s support?); the likelihood that he’ll be able to form a coalition government. But, once again, the important thing was the tone, not the content. He appeared to be confident of his ability to win; he displayed charisma (relative to himself), and even a sense of humour. That is what will stick in people’s minds after the dust settles. For the time being, that is what’s important.”

Kan Radio reports that Israeli aircraft attacked two terrorist cells that were flying incendiary balloons at Israel from the northern and southern Gaza Strip last night. No one was reported injured. Hamas resumed demonstrations on the border with the Gaza Strip yesterday and Palestinian media reported that several people were injured while clashing with Israeli security forces.

The Times of Israel reports on a new book by Vicky Ward which claims that Jared Kushner once urged a huge Palestinian-Jordanian-Saudi land swap. “Saudi Arabia was… the key to Kushner’s burgeoning Middle East peace plan,” the book says. “What Kushner wanted, according to multiple people who saw drafts of the plan, was for the Saudis and Emiratis to provide economic assistance to the Palestinians. There were plans for an oil pipeline from Saudi Arabia to Gaza, where refineries and a shipping terminal could be built. The profits would create desalination plants, where Palestinians could find work, addressing the high unemployment rate. “The plan also entailed land swaps, so that Jordan would give land to the Palestinian territories. In return, Jordan would get land from Saudi Arabia, and that country would get back two Red Sea islands it gave Egypt to administer in the 1950s.”

The Times of Israel reports that Israeli basketball team is marching toward gold at Abu Dhabi Special Olympics. The Nine-man squad has defeated the USA and Canada in the competition that is being held for the first time in the Middle East. Athletes from Syria and Lebanon have refused to compete against Israel.