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Media Summary

UAE pardon British student Matthew Hedges

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The BBC, Telegraph , Financial Times, Sky News and the Guardian report that Matthew Hedges, the 31-year-old British academic jailed for life on espionage charges last week by the United Arab Emirates, has been granted a presidential pardon by the country’s rulers. The Guardian reports that his release, once formalities are completed, follows intense lobbying by the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, amid an international outcry that left the UAE scrambling to produce evidence to justify claims that Hedges was a spy. The UAE at a press conference continued to insist Hedges was an MI6 agent, and showed video supposedly revealing him confessing he had been trying to discover military secrets, including the UAE’s weapons purchases. The UAE said a “gracious clemency was granted on Sunday in response to a letter from the Hedges family bearing in mind the historic relationship between the UAE and the UK. The BBC reports that following the pardon, Mr Hunt tweeted: “Fantastic news about Matthew Hedges. Although we didn’t agree with charges we are grateful to UAE government for resolving issue speedily.”

The Times and the Express report on Iran. The Times reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader has accused America of re-imposing sanctions because it is fearful of an “Islamic awakening”. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comments at the International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran after a week of division in the cabinet between reformists and hardliners over corruption. “The threats and evil move by the US and the Zionist regime will be futile like the past and will definitely end in failure,” the Ayatollah said. “The reason that the world’s arrogant powers, most notably the criminal US, are sensitive to the west Asia region is the morale of welcoming Islam and Islamic awakening among the region’s nations.” The Express reports that Iran has faced an international backlash after Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani called Israel a “cancerous tumour” in the Middle East. The Iranian President said: “One of the ominous results of World War Two was the formation of a cancerous tumour in the region.” His comments have been quickly attacked by the international community. A spokesman for the EU said: “President Rouhani’s remarks bringing into question Israel’s legitimacy are totally unacceptable”. The statement continued by adding: “They are also incompatible with the need to address international disputes through dialogue and international law…the European Union reiterates its fundamental commitment to the security of Israel, including with regard to current and emerging threats in the region.”

The Guardian and BBC report on Syria. The Guardian reports that Syrian warplanes have attacked rebel-held areas in the north of the country for the first time in weeks, as Syrian officials said more than 100 people were treated in hospital after a suspected poison gas attack in Aleppo. The latest wave of shelling and airstrikes in northern Syria is the most serious violation of a truce reached by Russia and Turkey that brought relative calm to the country’s north for the past two months. The rebels, who have denied carrying out any chemical attacks, accused the government of trying to undermine the ceasefire.

Reuters and Bloomberg report on Chadian President Idriss Déby’s visit to Israel. Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the visiting Chadian President on Sunday that he expects to make more trips to Arab countries in the near future after going to Oman last month. The Chadian President arrived in Israel on Sunday for the first official visit by a leader of the Central African country that severed diplomatic ties with Israel in 1972.“We discussed … the great changes that are taking place in the Arab world in its relations with Israel,” Netanyahu said, adding there will be more visits to Arab countries soon. Déby said his visit was “historic” for both countries and that it “could facilitate the turning of a new page in relations between us” but added that even with a renewal of ties, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could not be ignored. “Of course, the renewal of diplomatic ties between us, which I very much want, is not something that can make the Palestinian issue disappear,” Deby said in French through a translator.

The Financial Times and Reuters report on the continued fallout following the murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The Financial Times reports that Saudi Arabia’s former intelligence chief, Turki al-Faisal, also a prominent Saudi prince, has said the CIA’s reported assessment that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi is a “presumption” undermined by the agency’s past mistakes. He cited the CIA’s “completely false” reports that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons, a claim that helped build the case for the invasion of Iraqi in 2003. “The CIA is not the most accurate or believable source from past experience,” he said in an interview in Abu Dhabi. Reuters reports that several U.S. Republican senators on Sunday rejected President Donald Trump’s embrace of Saudi Arabia after the murder with some lawmakers from his party saying Congress must take additional action. The President cast doubt on the CIA assessment that Crown Prince Mohammed ordered Khashoggi’s killing, telling reporters that the agency had not formed a definitive conclusion. “I disagree with the president’s assessment. It’s inconsistent with the intelligence I’ve seen,” which implicates the crown prince, said Republican Senator Mike Lee said.

All the Israeli media report on the President of Chad’s visit to Israel.  The papers note that Chad has not yet restored diplomatic relations with Israel, which it cut in 1972. President Déby is quoted in Maariv as saying, “Obviously, resuming our ties, which I personally am very interested in, cannot make the Palestinian problem go away.” In the commentary in Israel Hayom, Eldad Beck writes, “Israel’s return to Africa has been made possible thanks to Israel’s decision to free itself from the political isolation that it imposed on itself for far too many years. The facts need to be stated clearly: Israel adopted a passive foreign policy that focused primarily on Israel’s comfort zones—Europe and the United States. The positive change in Israel’s international status in recent years, which has occurred regardless of the lack of any progress in the ‘peace process,’ was discerned by African capitals as well. As in the past, Israel has a lot to offer Africa, and Africa has a lot to offer Israel.”  Yediot Ahronot notes, “When Prime Minister Netanyahu decided on an African strategy nearly a decade ago when he was reelected prime minister, many were convinced at the time that this was a pipe dream. The golden age of Israel and Africa, which reached its high point in the 1960s, then looked like a dream that was farther away than ever, and it seemed that unless Israel were to make very substantial progress in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, that strategy was doomed to fail. However, as the years have gone by, it has become clear that Netanyahu was right and his critics were wrong. A strategy of drawing Israel closer to African countries can be pursued in spite of the difficulties along the way, and these difficulties do exist, of course. Israel in 2018 has a great many things to offer these countries, certainly more it did 50 years ago. Therefore, an Africa-oriented strategy is certainly likely to succeed, even in countries where Islam is strong, such as Chad.”

Haaretz reports that Israel is now working to establish diplomatic ties with Sudan and Bahrain.  According to the paper, “Two years ago, after Sudan severed its relationship with Iran, Haaretz reported that Israel had urged the United States and other countries to improve their relationship with the Arab African country in response. The Foreign Ministry’s assessment at the time was that Sudan severed its ties with Iran in 2015 because arms smuggling via Sudan to the Gaza strip had halted and the Sudanese were drawing closer to the Sunni Arab bloc headed by Saudi Arabia” Kan radio news concurs and reports an Israeli official saying that Israel was working to promote ties with Bahrain. Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to pay a visit soon to an Arab country that does not officially have relations with Israel, but which several high-ranking Israelis have visited before.

Maariv reports that Tel Aviv District Attorney Liat Ben Ari, who has been supervising the police investigations into Prime Minister Netanyahu, has concluded that there is sufficient evidence to charge Netanyahu with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in connection to all three cases—Cases 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000. According to that report, State Attorney Shai Nitzan and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit are likely to announce a final decision about Netanyahu’s possible indictment in the first third of 2019.

Kan radio news follows the latest political tension as the coalition failed to muster a majority in support of the ‘loyalty in culture’ bill, which means that it is unlikely to be introduced to the Knesset plenum for its second and third reading today. Yisrael Beiteinu announced that it would withhold its support until the bill to sentence terrorists to capital punishment had been passed in its first reading. The Kulanu faction announced that it would allow its members to vote according to their conscience. A senior official who has been involved in the legislative process said the ‘loyalty in culture’ bill appeared to be dead. Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev, who sponsored the bill, said that she would call a press conference at the Knesset this afternoon.

Yediot Ahronot reports that the government has decided to ask the High Court of Justice to extend its deadline to pass a new military conscription law.  Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid said: “The government has turned the military conscription law into a deal that is corrupted by money….The Netanyahu government has found a new way to capitulate to the Ultra-orthodox: they are promising them that they will pay them under the table every time that the economic sanctions are applied against draft-dodgers. People who dodge service will receive money from the government under the table.”

Maariv and Haaretz report that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife visited a shelter for victims of domestic violence in Jerusalem as part of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.  He describes the visit as “unsettling” and in the cabinet meeting afterwards announced the establishment of a ministerial committee on domestic violence.  He quoted the Zionist thinker Max Nordau who said: “about ethics, first enforcement and punishment and then ethics. Here there is no enforcement, no punishment, no ethics and no justice. There is only the continuing fear and trauma that is difficult to describe. You see this with the women too. You also see it with the young, adorable children that my wife and I visited today. This is going to change….I request the cooperation of all ministers and MKs in bringing about a deep and fundamental change here. We need to be the leading state in the world on this matter, just as we are the leading state in the world in the fight against terrorism.”