The Independent, its sister publication Independent i and the online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph this morning report that Israel’s Justice Ministry yesterday officially indicted former-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of fraud and breach of trust. The wording of the indictment was revised last week and toughened to accuse Lieberman of not only receiving illicit information from a former Israeli ambassador but then taking a more direct role than previously thought in advancing the envoy’s career. All reports comment that if convicted, the charges would likely involve moral turpitude, which would see Lieberman excluded from ministerial office for seven years.

The Guardian online also reports that Israel’s Supreme Court yesterday unanimously overturned a decision by the Central Elections Committee to disqualify Arab MK Hanin Zoabi from next month’s election, leaving her free to run as a parliamentary candidate. The Central Elections Committee had disqualified Zoabi based on petitions which highlighted her opposition to Israel’s Jewish character and tacit support for attacks against Israel, which they claimed infringes one of Israel’s Basic Laws.

Elsewhere in the region, the online editions of the Guardian, Telegraph, Financial Times and Independent give prominent coverage to a warning given by the United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, that unless a political solution can be found, the conflict in Syria could claim up to 100,000 lives next year and that Syria is in danger of descending into a ‘Somalia-style’ failed state controlled by warlords. The article in the Independent online also notes Brahimi’s warning that a mass exodus of refugees from Syria’s capital Damascus would create an unsupportable strain on neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Times online reports that between 150-200 civilians were killed over the weekend by President Assad’s forces, who re-took a district of Homs from opposition forces. Meanwhile, the Financial Times online says that the Egyptian pound sunk yesterday to a record low against the US dollar, after fears of the local currency’s devaluation sparked public panic buying of dollars. The Egyptian government yesterday sought to calm public fears, announcing that it would resume talks with the International Monetary Fund next month to secure a crucial loan.

In the Israeli media this morning, Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Makor Rishon give prominent coverage to controversy over comments made yesterday by President Shimon Peres at a gathering of the country’s ambassadors, at which he called for the negotiation of a peace agreement with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Likud Party figures criticised Peres for expressing his personal political opinion, which they claimed was out of touch with public opinion. Meanwhile, Maariv, Haaretz, Makor Rishon and Israel Hayom also cover yesterday’s ruling by the country’s Supreme Court, which overturned the Central Elections Committee’s ban on Arab MK Hanan Zoabi running in next month’s election. Writing in Maariv, Prof Suzie Navot comments that the ruling is part of “a regular ritual of the political entity disqualifying parties and candidates, and in the end the Supreme Court, usually, allows everyone to contend.” Israel Radio News this morning reports on comments made by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, who yesterday warned that the Israeli public is losing faith in various institutions and must not reach a stage where it believes that decisions of government are based on a personal connection to wealth and power.