Several UK dailies report comments made by newly-elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, on the eve of his first visit to the United States. The Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian online cover Morsi’s critique of US policies in the Middle East, in which he claims that Washington has consistently promoted Israeli interests above Palestinian independence, generating anti-American resentment in the Arab world. The Daily Telegraph notes that Israeli officials declined to respond to Morsi’s comments, but expressed the hope that he shares Israel’s commitment to ‘the continuation of peace’.

Meanwhile, both the print edition of the Times and Telegraph online report comments made in the Iranian media by the chief of the country’s Revolutionary Guards, General Mohamed Ali Jafari. Jafari reportedly predicted that ‘war will happen’ with Israel, warning that it would lead to Israel’s destruction. Over the weekend, the Sunday Express reported Iran’s development of a missile system which could deliver a nuclear warhead as far as Tel Aviv. The Telegraph online report notes that the US Senate passed a measure over the weekend, almost unanimously, to continue diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran.

In a related story, the Times reports the arrest in Iran of the daughter of the country’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is widely seen as a moderate voice in Iranian politics. The report speculates that her impending six-month imprisonment is evidence of factional rivalry within the Tehran regime.

The Financial Times publishes an analysis of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent disagreements with the White House over tackling Iran’s nuclear programme. The article includes comments by Amos Yadlin, former head of Israel’s military intelligence.

In the Israeli media, Haaretz leads with a report that Israel is taking significant steps to ease the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) financial difficulties. Israeli representatives at a conference of donor countries in New York, including Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, outlined a series of measures being taken to assist the PA.

Maariv leads with speculation that Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office is holding talks with the White House to enable US President Obama to establish red lines over Iran’s nuclear development, during a ‘week of destiny’ for a diplomatic solution to the issue, as the UN General Assembly gathers in New York. The report details attempts to find a formula under which Obama would not use the term ‘red lines’, but nonetheless place limitations on the Iranian programme.

The front page of Israel Hayom includes exerts from a forthcoming interview with Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak, in which he outlines his plan for a potential unilateral disengagement from the West Bank. While stressing his preference for reaching an agreement with the Palestinians, Barak describes his contingency plan to retain major settlement blocks accounting for 80-90% of Israeli citizens in the West Bank, while evacuating numerous smaller settlements to enable the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Yediot Ahronot reports that Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has rejected the idea that Israel will agree to any change in the security arrangements of the peace treaty with Egypt, despite continued security threats from the Sinai Peninsula. Maariv though reports that Roni Bar-On, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee is calling on Israel to consider such a change.

Meanwhile, Israel Hayom notes that the Jerusalem District Court will today sentence former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who was convicted of breach of trust, in a ruling which could impact his potential future involvement in politics.