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Media Summary

Concern in Jerusalem over Egyptian mass protests

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All media outlets in the UK and international media today extensively cover the updates of the Egyptian anti-government protests that have taken place for the last six days. Most papers carry opinion and analysis pieces on the developments and what it means to Egypt and the region as pressure mounts on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down from power. BBC Online notes that Prime Minister David Cameron has issued a joint call with US President Barack Obama for an “orderly transition” to a democratic government in Egypt. Several papers note that leading Egyptian opposition figure and Nobel prize Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei joined the protests defying the curfew in Cairo last night and called for change in Egypt towards democracy. The Independent carries a piece by Robert Fisk looking at how much longer Mubarak can hold onto power as protests refuse to die down. The Independent leads with an article saying the future of the Middle East is being decided in Cairo by the anti-government protests.

Over the weekend, all papers covered the ongoing anti-government protests that are taking place in Egypt against President Hosni Mubarak. The Financial Times noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is “anxiously monitoring” the developments in Cairo and that Israel is concerned over the stability and security in the region and ensuring the continuation of the three decade old peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. The Guardian on Sunday reported that the Egypt-Gaza Rafah border crossing has been closed. Israeli army sources said that they expected to see an increase in arms smuggling across the border into Gaza during the unrest in Egypt. The Observer noted that Egypt shut down al-Jazeera’s news network. Meanwhile, the Telegraph carried a piece calling on President Mubarak to step aside in order to save Egypt. In other news, the Sunday Times reported that the Netherlands froze its ties with Iran after an Iranian-Dutch woman was hanged for drug trafficking on Saturday.

In the Israeli press today, all papers report on Israel’s reaction to the ongoing protests taking place in Egypt against President Hosni Mubarak’s government. Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post note that Syrian President Bashar Assad told the Wall Street Journal that he is willing to promote political and economic reform in Syria in the wake of the protests in Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt. The Jerusalem Post reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Israel yesterday for a visit and will hold a joint Israeli-German cabinet meeting today. Haaretz and Ynetnews note that the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Sunday that Cyprus recognised a Palestinian state within 1967 borders. All papers also note that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein will determine his position tomorrow on the candidacy of Maj-Gen. Yoav Galant as the next IDF Chief of Staff.