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Media Summary

Hamas delegation to visit Tehran

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The fallout from last week’s General Election continues to dominate the UK media this morning.

The Telegraph reports on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the UN to shut down its Palestinian Refugee Agency. He says it is responsible for inciting hate against Israel.

The Times reports that a Hamas delegation will travel to Tehran in the days ahead. The newspaper says the visit is “a sign that the crisis in the Gulf is pushing the Palestinian militants back into the arms of their former patron, Iran”.

The Financial Times reports that the Al Jazeera television network has become a target of Saudi Arabia and its allies in its campaign against Qatar. The popular Arab language media network is alleged to give voice to Islamists. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain all prevent the channel broadcasting in their country.

The Times covers the release of Saif Gaddafi, son of the deposed Libyan leader, who had been held by Zintan militia for six years.

One of the top items in Yediot Ahronot and Maariv is the controversy over an academic code of ethics. The main points stipulate that faculty members are not to comment in class on political issues unless that is a necessary part of the material being covered. ‎Faculty members are not to take part in boycotts of institutions of higher education. Faculty members are not to call on others to support an academic boycott. Academic clinics will not collaborate with politically-identified NGOs. Yediot Ahronot leads with a quote from Prof Yuval Noah Harari who said: “If the Code of Ethics is approved, I will violate it in every lecture.” Yediot Ahronot also quotes President Rivlin speaking against the guidelines yesterday: “The freedom of thought, opinion, and creativity is the lifeblood of Israeli art, science, and democracy. Art, culture, and science are not anyone’‎s personal property. ”

Haaretz reveals that last year, in an effort to create a regional peace plan, Prime Minister Netanyahu and head leader of the opposition Isaac Herzog flew secretly to Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian President Sisi.

Israel Hayom claims that there is no truth to reports that MK Tzipi Livni advises US special envoy Jason Greenblatt or has had an important role in the administration’‎s attempts to promote a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel Hayom also reports that according to a US Administration official, both Israelis and Palestinians are sabotaging a resumption of peace negotiations.

Maariv covers the lawsuit that decided in favour of the Netanyahu family against Yediot Ahronot journalist Igal Sarna. He will pay the Netanyahu family more than NIS 100,000 after the court ruled reports on Facebook constituted slander against the Prime Minister and his wife by claiming Netanyahu was kicked out of the car by his wife following an argument.

A tragic story of a mysterious death of a young couple in a hotel in Eilat also appears on the front page of both Yediot Ahronot and Maariv.