All UK broadsheets report Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech yesterday evening to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. The Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Financial Times and Independent i cover Netanyahu’s address, during which he strongly argued that setting a ‘clear red line’ is the only way to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, using a crude diagram to illustrate where the red line should be drawn. The Telegraph highlights Netanyahu’s claim that ‘the future of the world is at stake’ over Iran, while the Guardian notes the Israeli leader’s prediction that ‘red lines’ could be crossed by Iran next spring or summer.

The Evening Standard offers an analysis of Israel-US relations in light of US President Obama’s refusal to adopt ‘red lines’ over Iran’s nuclear development, as suggested by Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, a number of dailies also give prominence to yesterday’s speech by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly. The Financial Times highlights Abbas’s accusation that settlement building in East Jerusalem amounts to Israeli ‘ethnic cleansing’. Meanwhile, the Independent online focuses on Abbas’ announcement that the Palestinians will apply for ‘non-member state’ status at the General Assembly, in contrast to a more ambitious bid last year to become a full UN member state. Other titles, such as the Guardian, cover Abbas’s speech as a secondary item within their coverage of Netanyahu’s address.

Both the Independent and its sister publication, Independent i cover a Tel Aviv University poll published in Israeli daily Haaretz, which reveals that more than half of Israelis fear that a war with Iran would endanger Israel’s existence.

The Times reports that a close aide to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Akbar Javanfekr has been imprisoned whilst Ahmadinejad is in New York attending the UN General Assembly. The report describes the jailing of Javanfekr as part of a power struggle in Tehran between Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ahead of presidential elections next year. In a related story, both the Guardian online and Financial Times online report the closure of Shargh, a reformist daily newspaper in Iran, following publication of a cartoon deemed insulting by conservative authorities.

In a separate article, the Financial Times also reports a currency crisis in Iran, caused by international sanctions over its nuclear programme.

The headlines in this morning’s Israeli media are dominated by Netanyahu’s speech in New York. Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz both focus on Netanyahu’s warning that Iran will cross the nuclear red line next year. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, commentator Nahum Barnea defends Netanyahu’s use of a rudimentary diagram to illustrate where the nuclear red line should be drawn. However, he questions whether the United States will adopt such an ultimatum. In the same publication, Eitan Haber stresses the efforts made by Netanyahu in his speech not to antagonise the Obama administration.

In Maariv, Ofer Shelah focuses on the clarity of the timetable set out by the Israeli Prime Minister, while Ben Caspit’s analysis asks whether the United States will stand by Israel should Netanyahu’s red lines be crossed.

Israel Radio News reports that shortly after his speech, Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, although details of their meeting were not disclosed. A separate report focuses on the Iranian response to Netanyahu’s speech, with Tehran officials quoted as saying that Iran will protect itself and reserves the right to respond to any attack with all necessary force.

In addition to coverage of Netanyahu’s speech, Haaretz also publishes a poll, which shows the Likud Party strengthening its popularity and Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party losing support.