In today’s UK media there is continued coverage of the ongoing violence in Syria.  The Telegraph reports comments from Foreign Minister William Hague, in which he warned, “If the Annan plan isn’t working, I believe it will be right to begin the process of referring Assad to the International Criminal Court, although that also requires the agreement of the Security Council, so is not a simple process.” The Guardian prints a letter supporting the Israeli theatre groups Habima performing at the Globe, stating: “We welcome Israel’s national theatre to London as another fine example of UK and Israel’s shared values”. It is signed by Arnold Wesker, Ronald Harwood,  Maureen Lipman, Simon Callow, Louise Mensch MP, Steven Berkoff.  The Independent has a brief AP story, itself taken fromIRNA, the official Iranian news agency, claiming that Iran has exposed an Israeli linked assassination and sabotage network. The Independent also reports on a Gazan Palestinian, living in Israel illegally, who has now been returned to Gaza. The paper reports that he may be in danger of being executed by Hamas as an alleged collaborator. The Independent also has a comment piece defending the rights of German writer Gunter Grass to speak out against Israel.

The Israeli news agenda remains fairly low key this week whilst the country continues to enjoy the Passover holiday. In the Israeli media, most outlets continue to cover events in Syria. There is also broad coverage of the US presidential race as Rick Santorum drops out. Yediot Ahronot continues to follow the appeal by President Peres for the US to release Jonathan Pollard. There is no indication of change in the US position, though there has not yet been an official response to the President Peres’s letter. The paper further speculates that Obama may still include the pardon as part of a ceremony planned to honour President Peres.Yediot Ahronot also initiated a meeting between Esther Pollard (Jonathan Pollard’s wife) and Noam Shalit. Ahead of talks over the Iranian nuclear programme,Israel Hayom cites a number of tricks Tehran is using, from accusing Israel of terrorism to threatening to stop the flow of oil. Israel Hayom and Jerusalem Postcover today’s Quartet meeting in Washington. Yediot Ahronot reports on Israel’s agricultural equipment and expertise being exported to Russia which in turn is helping Iran. Ma’ariv previews this weekend’s arrival of ‘flytilla’ protestors, with the police having completed its deployment, and Bethlehem preparing to greet the activists. Haaretz reports on ‘secret talks’ between Israeli and Finnish officials on whether or not Israel will attend a conference on regional nuclear disarmament due to be held in Finland.