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Media Summary

Trump and Netanyahu discuss Syria

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The Times, BBC News Online, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph report that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince has extended a further hand towards the West by saying he supports the right of Israelis to “have their own land”. Asked in an interview with The Atlantic magazine if he believed that “the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland”, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, tied his response to a two-state solution, in line with formal American policy.

The Independent  conducted an interview with Fathom contributor Pnina Pfeuffer on the state of Orthodox women in the political sphere.  She said: “Haredi women are not downtrodden or oppressed stereotypes. We work, often more than men do, and we enjoy our rights.  But that I think makes us complacent enough not to demand more. When it comes to voting our voices are totally stifled. We are not involved in the public sphere at all. Many women who do vote just go along and vote for who their husbands tell them to vote for, strengthening the system that already exists.”

The Sun, the Daily Mail, Huff Post, the Telegraph and the Times reports on the ongoing allegations of antisemitism levelled at Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn joined a four-hour celebration by a controversial Jewish group where, it emerged last night that attendees chanted expletives about the police, it emerged last night. The Labour leader’s commitment to tackling antisemitism was questioned by mainstream Jewish groups yesterday as he defended his decision to attend a Seder celebration. The head of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Jonathan Arkush accused the Jewdas group, which hosted the event on Monday night, of being a “source of virulent antisemitism”. Sources close to Corbyn said that he had participated in parts of the celebrations but not the anti-police chants. Huff Post reports that Jon Lansman, founder of Momentum said in an interview that Labour MPs who attended the antisemitism rally in Westminster last week  should not be targeted for deselection by local activists. Lansman said on Tuesday morning that “every allegation of antisemitism” had to be taken seriously even if the row was being exploited by some to try and “undermine” Corbyn.

BBC Newsday has conducted interviews with migrants in Israel. Some 37,000 African migrants are currently in a state of limbo in Israel, unsure how much longer they can stay in the country. The government wants them to leave, but its original plan to deport some of them was struck down by the courts. Then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu changed his mind on a deal with the UN just hours after it was agreed. The programme reported from one of the approximately 90 so called “baby warehouses” – unlicensed places which offer a cheap child-minding service to thousands of African migrants who cram into this small part of Tel Aviv.

The Independent reports that Netanyahu has said he is cancelling yesterday’s agreement with the UN to relocate thousands of African asylum seekers to Western countries.

The Daily Mail and the Mirror report that the family of the 18-year-old Palestinian shot dead by the Israeli military during protests on the Gaza strip has denied he was a member of Islamist militant group Hamas. Video captures the moment Abdel Fattah Abd al-Nabi is shot by an Israeli sniper in the back as he runs through no-man’s-land on Friday carrying a tyre. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has defended its actions and called the footage “Hamas propaganda” after it went viral. It comes as Palestine officials report that another man has been killed by Israeli forces at the Gaza border today, taking the death toll from several days of mass protests to 19 people.

The Financial Times reports on the continuing conflict in Gaza, arguing that the “Gaza killings pour fuel on Middle East fires”. Labour MP Naz Shah argued in a Huff Post column that people “have a duty to hold Israel to account and stand up for the rights of Palestinians. She believes that just like how you can’t be “a bit pregnant”, ultimately you are either against human rights abuses or you are not”.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that an Arab Israeli man was shot dead by soldiers Tuesday after crashing into a hitch-hiking stop in the occupied West Bank and then attempting to flee, officials said. No other injuries were reported and officials said the crash was still being investigated. It was not for now being labelled an attack. Israel’s military said the incident occurred near the Jewish settlement of Ariel, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus.

Ha’aretz reports that after cancelling the agreement with the UN, Netanyahu is re-examining ways to expel asylum seekers and runs an analysis piece asking “What’s next”. Maariv’s headline is “After zigzagging, Israel is left with approximately 40,000 foreigners” and publishes an opinion piece from Shula Keshet, a Mizrahi feminist, who is one of the leaders of South Tel Aviv Against Deportation. Yediot Ahronot publishes “the Expulsion Dilemma”. Israel Hayom focuses on Finance Minister Kahlon’s support for a law to bypass the High Court of Justice regarding what it calls the “Infiltrators Crisis” and also publishes an opinion piece by Sheffi Paz, one of the leaders of the protest to deport asylum seekers from south Tel Aviv titled “Prime Minister realised he has to consult with residents to reach a solution”. The Jerusalem Post publishes an analysis on the ramifications of what it calls “Netanyahu’s double U-turn”.

In related news, Kan Radio and YNET report that Netanyahu said last night that a parliamentary commission of inquiry would be formed to examine the activity of the New Israel Fund. Netanyahu claimed that it was the main organisation that had caused European pressure to be exerted on the Rwandan government to retract its consent to accept asylum seekers from Israel. New Israel Fund officials responded that the Prime Minister had crossed every red line in his incitement against it and that it had never held any talks with the Rwanda government. Left wing Meretz Party leader Tamar Zandberg slammed Netanyahu’s accusations, saying “The imagined demonization by the Prime Minister has gone up a notch. If he believes what he’s saying, then he is a paranoid person. If he doesn’t believe it, he’s an inciting liar.”

Kan Radio reports that US President Donald Trump spoke last night by phone with Netanyahu on recent developments in the Middle East. The Times of Israel reports that the main topic of conversation was Syria.

Kan Radio also reports that the Palestinian Authority (PA) asked the UN Security Council (UNSC) to take immediate steps to protect the Palestinians.

The Jerusalem Post reports that major Israeli websites have been targeted in large anti-Israel cyberattack.