BBC online notes that Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak said yesterday that Israel may consider a ‘unilateral move’ if peace negotiations with the Palestinians fail.  The US media continues to follow the deteriorating situation in Syria. The Daily Telegraph notes comments by Western diplomatic sources that say Western troops could be forced to intervene in Syria as the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime could leave chemical weapons vulnerable to terrorists. BBC online reports that Syrian rebels announced that starting Friday they would no longer observe the ceasefire agreement brokered by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan. Metro London continues to follow the latest cyber attacks on Iran and cites official reports that the Flame computer virus attacked Iran’s key oil industry. The Times reports on Sunni groups in Lebanon, which are preparing to join the armed struggle against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. The paper also reports that an aid convoy to Gaza, which was championed by George Galloway, has abandoned its mission after being refused permission to enter Egypt. The Guardian carries readers’ letters on intervention in Syria. The Independent reports that Haaretz journalist Uri Blau is to be indicted for possession of classified military documents. The paper notes that the decision was strongly criticised yesterday by the head of Israel’s Press Council. The paper also reports that an Israeli symphony orchestra will play works by Richard Wagner inside the country for the first time since the state’s foundation in 1948.  Musicians have avoided performing Wagner’s work in Israel because of the composer’s association with the Nazi regime in Germany. The Daily Telegraph also reports on a Rabbi advocating gay marriages. Citing the disruption of the Israeli National Theatre performance of The Merchant of Venice at the London Globe earlier this week, Financial Times columnist Michael Skapinker argues that activists must not be allowed to ‘trample others’ rights’.

The Israeli media widely notes threats by Iran’s parliamentary speaker that any Western attack on Iran will ‘engulf’ Israel. Haaretz quotes an Israeli security official who warns that nuclear capabilities will only increase Iran’s confrontational behaviour in the region. All papers note that Israel transferred the bodies of Palestinian terrorists to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Haaretz, Ynetnews and the Jerusalem Post report Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s statement yesterday supporting unilateral Israeli withdrawal in the West Bank if negotiations continue to stall. The statement drew criticism from other cabinet ministers as well as from senior Palestinian officials. All papers also report on the indictment of Haaretz journalist Uri Blau for possession of classified military documents. Maariv’s Deputy Editor Shai Golden comments that the decision hurts Israel’s democracy, while the paper’s Ben Dror Yemini states the indictment was measured. A similar debate is published in Yisrael Hayom. Yisrael Hayom also reports that Russia and China prevented the UN Security Council from enhancing sanctions against Syria.