As US-led discussions on normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia continue, The Financial Times reports a delegation of Israeli officials has travelled publicly to the Kingdom for the first time. Though not a formal bilateral visit, the Israeli delegation, led by Amir Weissbrod, a deputy director-general in the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs, will be observers at a UNESCO world heritage meeting.

The Independent reports on UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s visit to Israel and the West Bank this week. Cleverly will “reiterate the UK’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and condemn Iranian threats to the region’s security.”

In The Times, Colin Shindler, emeritus professor at SOAS, University of London, writes of “a widening chasm between an illiberal Israeli government and an increasingly irritated Jewish community here. Most British Jews, it appears, want a separation of powers between government, parliament and the judges in Israel on the British model… There are three strands of opinion among British Jews,” Shindler continues: “a rapidly shrinking band of hardliners, a growing collective of critics from across the political spectrum and a group emanating mainly from central orthodoxy and its rabbinical leadership that refuses to take a stand. This last group calls for unity and compromise in the name of consensus.”

In The Telegraph, Zoe Strimpel discusses Jake Wallis Simons new book Israelophobia: The Newest Version of the Oldest Hatred and What to Do About It. It’s a topic she writes, “that takes significant bravery; namely, the pretence by Israel’s venomous detractors that their criticism of the Jewish state is legitimate, when, in fact, it’s old-fashioned anti-Semitism.” The book, she continues, offers “a straight corrective to the idea that Israel – and only Israel – deserves the kind of rabid vitriol that no other country would ever come in for.”

Maariv reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is considering announcing unilateral action to pass new legislation scaling back July’s amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary stripping the Supreme Court of its use of the reasonability principle in reviewing government decisions. The paper suggests that the prime minister will adopt the most recent package of compromise reforms provided by President Herzog and leaked last week, to the apparent rejection of both sides of the divide. Army News says that Netanyahu’s office is prevailing on Herzog to back the new proposal. The news of Netanyahu’s supposed climbdown comes the day before the court is due to begin hearing a petition on the amendment. Of compromise on the remaining elements of the reforms, a senior Likud official told Maariv, “It will definitely be possible to endorse the President’s Residence’s plan to leave the composition of the Judges Selection Committee as is, but on condition that one important amendment is inserted that will ensure a balance in the committee’s decisions even in a situation in which the right wing is in the opposition. A bill must be introduced unilaterally that stipulates that the leader of the largest faction in the opposition will appoint a representative on its behalf to the Judges Selection Committee and that the opposition’s representative will have veto power over all committee decisions.”

Kan Radio also covers this story, suggesting that reform architect, and Justice Minister, Yariv Levin is also prepared to consider compromise but remains committed to his priority reform – changing the structure of the Judicial Selection Committee. Haaretz reports that over 200 anti-reform protesters have this morning gathered outside Levin’s Modi’in home.

Kan Radio also reports the reaction of Yesh Atid leader and Opposition Chairman Yair Lapid to the news of the supposed government compromise. Lapid says that he warned a month ago that a compromise proposal would suddenly emerge on the eve of the court hearing and prior to Netanyahu leaving for the US, and that it would look too good to be true. “That is because it isn’t true,” Lapid said. “The goal won’t be to reach agreements, but to arrange a meeting at the White House for Netanyahu and, primarily, to mount obstacles before the justices.”

Channel 12 commission polling ahead of the court hearing, and finds the coalition on a prospective 52 Knesset seats, the opposition on 58, and the unaligned Hadash-Ta’al-United Arab List on 10. On whom would make a better prime minister, Netanyahu leads Lapid by 38 percent to 28, but Benny Gantz enjoys a three point advantage over Netanyahu when respondents are asked to choose between them.

Army Radio features National Security Council Director Tzahi Hanegbi saying today that Israel has begun to hold talks with the Palestinians on a normalisation agreement with Saudi Arabia. Hanegbi said: “I spoke at length with the Palestinians. I think that our talks bore fruit. I believe that there will be a change in the Palestinian approach on this matter. I see that they are very proactive. They are talking to the Americans, to us, to the Saudis. We are very much in favor of there being a significant Palestinian component within the clear boundaries that the prime minister set, in that they will not be able to take any step or receive anything that constitutes a danger to Israel’s security. We will certainly be willing to consider and talk about anything below that.”

Israel Hayom reports members of the Jenin-based and Hamas affiliated al-Ayyash Brigades claiming on Sunday that it had successfully launched a rocket toward the Israeli settlement of Ram-On. While the IDF is investigating the claims, Head of the Gilboa Regional Council Ovad Nur said that the rocket did not cross into Israeli territory and most likely exploded within the Palestinian Authority. If proven, this will become the seventh time in recent months that terrorists have attempted to launch rockets into Israel.

Haaretz reveals that during next week’s visit to the US – where he is expected to be invited to address the UN General Assembly – Netanyahu is set to meet with X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk. The billionaire tech entrepreneur and the platform have come under fire for allegedly amplifying and failing to combat antisemitism. Former ADL chief Abraham Foxman, a frequent critic of Musk, criticised the reported meeting, explaining that for the Israeli prime minister to meet with Musk “at this point in time is an insult to the majority of the American Jewish Community and counterproductive to the fight against antisemitism on social media.”

Haaretz reports over 75 Palestinian intellectuals penning an open letter criticising Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas for a recently reported speech containing lies and historical distortions concerning the Holocaust. The signatories, who include historian Rashid Khalidi, human rights lawyer Zaha Hassan, novelist Isabella Hammad, filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, businessman Sam Bahour and writer Joey Ayoub, wrote that “rooted in a racial theory widespread in European culture and science at the time, the Nazi genocide of the Jewish people was born of antisemitism, fascism, and racism,” and that they “adamantly reject any attempt to diminish, misrepresent, or justify antisemitism, Nazi crimes against humanity, or historical revisionism vis-à-vis the Holocaust.” Of Abbas’s leadership more broadly, the letter said that “having held onto power nearly a decade and a half after his presidential mandate expired in 2009, supported by Western and pro-Israel forces seeking to perpetuate Israeli apartheid, Abbas and his political entourage have forfeited any claim to represent the Palestinian people and our struggle for justice, freedom, and equality, a struggle that stands against all forms of systemic racism and oppression.”