Both the Financial Times and the online edition of the Telegraph report that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally requested and was granted a two-week extension on forming a coalition government by President Peres on Saturday evening. Netanyahu’s coalition building attempts have been frustrated by an unlikely alliance between Yesh Atid and Jewish Home which appears to have thwarted Netanyahu’s attempt to include ultra-Orthodox parties in the new government. The Telegraph online suggests that US President Obama will call off a regional tour scheduled for 20 March if Netanyahu fails to form a new government by the updated 16 March deadline.

Meanwhile, the Guardian, Independent, Telegraph, Times and Independent i all cover the introduction of new bus lines, which will stop at Palestinian West Bank communities, transporting passengers to central Israel. The reports include comment from Israel’s Transport Ministry which explained that the new routes are a response to overcrowding and significant tension on West Bank busses and that the new lines have been introduced with the agreement of Palestinian authorities and are meant to improve services for Palestinian workers entering Israel. However, critics of the new routes have suggested that they are ‘Palestinian only’ bus lines, having been advertised only in Arabic through the Palestinian media.

The Guardian includes an op-ed by Samer Issawi, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for over two hundred says in Israeli detention, in which he explains that his protest is a demonstration against Israeli actions. Issawi is one of four long-term Palestinian hunger-striking prisoners who have become a rallying point for widespread Palestinian protests in the West Bank over the last two weeks.

The Financial Times and the online editions of the Guardian, Times and Telegraph all report on Foreign Secretary William Hague’s comments regarding Syria on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday. Hague described Syrian President Assad’s criticism of the UK government as “naive, confused” and “delusional” and said that he would announce a new aid package for Syria this week.

Meanwhile, the Guardian online covers US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Egypt, during which he announced that the United States is releasing around £166million in aid to Egypt due to steps that have been made towards political and economic reform. However, he cautioned that further aid would be conditional on additional progress being made towards strengthening Egyptian democracy.     

The Israeli media this morning focuses on developments in coalition negotiations, with Prime Minister Netanyahu set to attempt to strike a deal with Yesh Atid and Jewish Home, who have closely coordinated a joint negotiation strategy. Israel Hayom says that there will now be “accelerated negotiations” with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Jewish Home head Naftali Bennett, after the pair effectively ruled out sitting in government with ultra-Orthodox parties such as Shas. According to Makor Rishon, Netanyahu told senior Shas officials that their party will not be in government. Other dailies speculate over the resulting ministerial portfolios if a coalition deal is concluded with Yesh Atid and Jewish Home. Israel Hayom says that Lapid will request to become Israel’s next foreign minister, while Bennett will hope to become Finance Minister. Yediot Ahronot suggests that Yesh Atid will be given control of the Education, Interior and Welfare ministries and Jewish Home the Housing, Industry and Religious Services ministries. Writing in Yediot Ahronot though, Eitan Haber does not rule out a further twist in coalition talks, commenting that fresh elections are not inconceivable.

In other news, Israel Radio News reports that Defence Minister Ehud Barak addressed the AIPAC policy conference yesterday in Washington and said that in the event that no interim agreement can be reached with the Palestinians, Israel should take unilateral action to demarcate borders.