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Media Summary

19.02.2014

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The Telegraph and the online edition of the Guardian both report on a speech delivered by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, during which he said that those leading efforts to boycott Israel are “classical anti-Semites in modern garb.”

The Guardian online also reports that a court in Egypt has charged four people with espionage, claiming that they are spies for Israel’s intelligence service Mossad. Meanwhile, the Times online says that the Islamist terror group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which this week blew up a tourist bus in Sinai, has warned all tourists to leave Egypt within two days. An editorial in the Guardian says that changes and reforms must be made in Egypt, if the country’s authorities wish to prevent serious damage to Egyptian tourism.

The Telegraph and Independent i report that talks between Iranian officials and representatives of the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) to reach a long-term agreement on Iran’s nuclear development, began yesterday in Vienna with low expectations on both sides. The Guardian emphasises that Iranian officials said they will not discuss the country’s military programme in talks, defining the subject as distinct from Tehran’s nuclear programme. The Financial Times says that a P5+1 representative indicated that this round of talks will be limited to agreeing a “framework” for future negotiations.

The Times online claims US Secretary of State John Kerry is considering reviving a plan to arm Syrian rebels seeking to overthrow President Assad. The Financial Times online reports that representatives of the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition opposition umbrella group are in Washington lobbying for more direct support. The Guardian includes a report from a Syrian refugee camp on the Turkish border, which is apparently mushrooming into a “township”. In the Times, Roger Boyes argues that the disintegration of Syria wouldn’t necessarily result in ‘Balkanisation’ and could spell the dawn for new regional relationships and cooperation.

The Guardian includes a feature on a new production by Israeli director Nir Paldi, who explores the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians through the medium of a cabaret drag show.

In the Israeli media, Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom lead with the continuing industrial dispute at Jerusalem’s financially-stricken Hadassah Hospitals. With salaries still outstanding, employees camped overnight in the hospitals in protest. Israel Hayom predicts that redundancies are on the way. Meanwhile, in Maariv, former-Deputy Health Minister Ya’akov Litzman criticises current Health Minister Yael German, claiming that her behaviour is reflective of “the chaos in the health establishment.”

Israel Hayom says that President Shimon Peres praised the work of US Secretary of State John Kerry in the pursuit of a peace agreement. The same article says that Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said the meeting on Sunday between Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli students in Ramallah, showed that Abbas had “learnt the charm offensive method from [Iranian President] Rouhani.” The Walla new site reports that Justice Minister and lead peace negotiator Tzipi Livni told a conference that the majority of Israelis would support a peace agreement and that isolated settlements do not serve Israel’s security interests.

Israel Radio news reports this morning that three more wounded Syrian civilians were admitted to Poriya Hospital in Tiberias for treatment. Around 700 injured Syrians have been treated in Israel since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.