The Times, Financial Times, the Guardian, the Telegraph report that Egyptian authorities have arrested a retired general after denying him permission to run in presidential elections in March. Sami Anan was the last challenger seen as a potential threat to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, himself a former military chief, whose re-election is considered almost certain. The arrest of Anan, a former member of Egypt’s supreme military council for the armed forces (Scaf), appears to be a calculated move to push him out of the race. Earlier, a declaration by the military accused him of election violations and said he would be “summoned for interrogation in front of specialised personnel”.

The Independent reports that three Israeli pilots have spoken out against the forced deportations of asylum seekers back to Africa, saying they would refuse to be involved. The statements published by the three men regarding the deportation of migrants are largely symbolic as El Al – the airline all three men are understood to work for – does not currently operate any routes to the countries in question.“El Al does not fly any immigrants to Africa,” a spokesperson said. “El Al has absolutely nothing at all to do with these flights. El Al pilots won’t be flying these immigrants”. According to the Times, A plan to deport 38,000 migrants from Israel to Africa was on the verge of collapse last night amid growing domestic opposition and a failure to agree terms with Rwanda. Holocaust survivors have criticised the plan including Yehuda Bauer, a survivor and renowned Holocaust historian, comparing the migrants’ plight to that of Jews who escaped to Israel after the Second World War.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that US Vice President Mike Pence reiterated to Israeli leaders on Tuesday that the Trump administration plans to pull out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal unless the pact is amended. On Tuesday, Pence met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and vowed the United States would counter the Iranian nuclear threat. He then headed to the most emotional part of his visit – a tribute to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and a visit to the Western Wall. He departed Israel later in the day.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that foreigners linked to Palestinians have difficulty obtaining Israeli travel visas. American Kate Hamad said Israel rejected her request for a visa renewal three months ago, even though her Palestinian husband and their three youngest children have West Bank residency. She appealed, but hasn’t heard back. According to immigration lawyers, over the past year, Israel has made it harder for those with ties to Palestinians to stay in the West Bank on spouse or work visas, harming families, universities and even a school teaching Western classical music to Palestinian children. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a branch of the Israeli Defence Ministry, denied it has adopted tougher rules, saying visa applications are judged on a case-by-case basis. It did not respond to requests to provide statistics.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that according to recent polling by the Pew Research Centre, The bitter divisions in the United States are being felt across the world in the Middle East, where Israel is emerging as an increasingly partisan issue in the Trump era. A new opinion poll released Tuesday showed US Republicans to be far more supportive of Israel than their Democratic counterparts. It also found Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, to be a divisive figure. According to the poll, 79 per cent of Republicans sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians, compared with just 27 per cent of Democrats. The share of liberal Democrats who sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians has plummeted from 33 per cent to 19 per cent since 2016 alone, the survey found. Pew said the partisan divide was the widest it has been since 1978, the earliest year it provided for comparison.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday instructed army radio to censor author Jonathan Geffen, who compared Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian teen facing trial, to Hannah Szenes and Anne Frank. Lieberman stated on social media: “I’ve instructed the commander of army radio to stop playing or interviewing Jonathan Geffen in all the station’s broadcasts, and I call on all media in Israel to do the same. The State of Israel won’t give a platform to a drunkard comparing a child (Frank) who was killed in the Holocaust and a hero warrior (Szenes) who fought the Nazi regime to Ahed Tamimi, the brat who attacked a soldier,” he said.

The Independent reports on Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s comments suggesting Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital is a “moment of opportunity” for peace. The criticism came after Johnson used a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to accept the “decision” – and to express hope it will spark a new peace plan from the White House.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that Palestinians in the West Bank began receiving 3G mobile telecommunications services on Tuesday. The Jawwal and Wataniya firms began offering the service to their customers Tuesday morning, with Palestinians seeing the option appear on their phones for the first time.

The Sun reports on the deciphering of the two remaining Dead Sea Scrolls. A second article by the paper explains the Dead Sea Scrolls, what they contained, where they were found and what they say.

The Guardian, Financial Times, the Daily Mail, BBC News and the Independent report on continued clashes in Northern Syria between the Turkish Army and Kurdish Peshmerga. Up to 24 civilians have been killed and an estimated 5,000 displaced in the first three days of Turkey’s offensive against a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria, the United Nations and monitors said on Tuesday. Turkey launched the assault on Saturday, aiming to force the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union party (PYD) and its military wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), out of Afrin. Ankara says the militia is the Syrian arm of a terror group that has fought a decades-long insurgency inside Turkey.

All the Israeli media report the final day of US Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Israel.  Maariv and Israel Hayom concentrate on his visit to the Western Wall and Pence’s prayer, “God bless the Jewish people”.   Haaretz reports on his meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.  Rivlin spoke of his family’s history in Jerusalem and growing up to live in harmony with mutual recognition. He said: “Unfortunately we are now in a sort of tragedy for both of us. They are, most of them, refusing to recognise the very existence of the State of Israel, but we are so very proud as Jerusalemites about the decision of President Trump recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. We appreciated very much and see this as a clear gift on the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel.” Pence told Rivlin: “We believe the bond between us has never been stronger, but under President Trump’s leadership, we are committed to making it stronger still.”

Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz report a controversial moment in the trip. At the visit to the Western Wall, the organisers separated the women journalists from the men, and they were forced to stand on chairs from behind to cover the event.  The papers quote Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria, who said: “Once again, the Western Wall rabbi has created a gratuitous international drama. This is an outrageous decision.” However, the Western Wall rabbi said last night: “The Americans were the ones who insisted on absolute separation between women and men.” A spokesperson for the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said: “With the goal of creating maximum accessibility for the media during the Vice President’s visit to the Western Wall, for the male and female journalists alike, two identical stages were installed, as was done during the US President’s visit to the Western Wall in May 2017. We reject any attempt to divert the discussion away from the important and moving visit by the vice president.”

Maariv reports that the former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, recently urged Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to “hold fast” and not “capitulate” to US President Donald Trump. Kerry allegedly conveyed this message to the Palestinian leader via Hussein Agha, a long-standing confidant of Abbas. Kerry reportedly told his Palestinian interlocutor that Trump was unlikely to remain in office much longer, and advised the Palestinians to focus their attacks on Trump personally, rather than on the US or even the current administration. Kerry reportedly urged the Palestinians to introduce a peace plan of their own, in which they might articulate in positive terms the conditions for achieving peace, and promised to use his influence to garner international support for any such alternative peace plan. Kerry reportedly indicated that he was considering running for president in 2020. However, the report notes Agha declined to comment, and Kerry could not be reached for comment.

Haaretz and Yediot Ahronot report Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet tomorrow with US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, as well as the French President and the German Chancellor.  Before leaving for Switzerland, Netanyahu said that he would meet with world leaders and would tell them that the coming weeks presented the last opportunity to make real revisions to the nuclear agreement with Iran.

Kan Radio News reports King Abdullah of Jordan said that even after the embassy crisis and the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it was possible to move forward on formulating a diplomatic solution, if the parties showed goodwill. The Jordanian king, who is currently in Davos, said he preferred to see the “full half of the glass” in the ties with Israel, and to remain optimistic.

All the media report that three people were killed in a road accident last night in the West Bank.  Following a collision between Israeli and Palestinian cars, an Israeli 13-year-old, her eight-year-old brother and a 21-year-old Palestinian were killed. The mother of the Israeli family and her 12-year-old son sustained serious injuries. The father and a six-month old baby sustained lighter injuries. Four injured people were rescued from the Palestinian car.

Haaretz reports on an attempted stabbing attack yesterday in the West Bank. Two Palestinians were shot and wounded after they refused to stop.  One of the Palestinians then pulled out a knife and continued running towards the officers.  Both suspects were shot in the lower part of the body. There were no Israeli casualties.

Yediot Ahronot and Maariv report that controversy surrounding Yehonatan Geffen, an Israeli songwriter attacked by right-wing politicians yesterday over an Instagram post in which he compared Ahed Tamimi to Anne Frank. Defence Minister Lieberman said he would instruct Army Radio not to play any songs written by Geffen.  However, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit clarified that he did not have the authority to do so.