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Media Summary

High Court upholds local council boycott of Israeli goods

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The Financial Times includes a feature on Israel’s border fences and border technology. It covers different models, from the almost hermetic fence on the Egyptian border to the more porous fence which weaves through much of the West Bank. The article says that Israel’s border development is “garnering interest” in the US Presidential election, European countries facing mass migration and beyond.

Meanwhile, there is plenty of coverage of the fallout following Tuesday’s suicide bombings at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, which killed 41 people. The i says that Turkey’s Prime Minister has suggested the attack could have been linked to Turkey’s rapprochement this week with Israel and Russia. It was announced on Monday that Israel and Turkey signed a reconciliation agreement after a six-year hiatus in full relations. A Times article analyses airport security in the wake of the Istanbul attack and describes Israel’s example as “the gold standard”.

A Times editorial says that Turkey is needed as an “effective ally” against jihadist terror and human traffickers. However, it says that it would be “right to be cautious about this calculated friendliness” towards Israel, Russia and Egypt. Writing in a similar tone in the Telegraph, David Blair praises President Erdogan’s decision to mend Turkey’s relations with Israel and Russia. However, he warns that “in diplomacy… all roads eventually converge on Mr. Erdogan’s new palace”.

The Daily Express and the Daily Star both report that the High Court yesterday upheld the decisions of Leicester, Swansea and Gwynedd councils to boycott Israeli goods, following a challenge by the group Jewish Human Rights Watch.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Israel Hayom, which is also covered prominently in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Haaretz, is a heated incident in the Knesset yesterday, following comments by firebrand Arab List MK Hanan Zoabi, who has previously been suspended from Knesset activity due to her controversial actions. During a debate on the reconciliation package with Turkey, which was announced this week, Zoabi said that the Israeli soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara protest ship in 2010 were “murderers”. Zoabi herself was aboard the ship at the time, as fellow protestors attacked Israeli commanders who boarded the ship. Ten Turkish citizens were killed in the incident, which precipitated the downgrading of Israel-Turkey relations until this week. Several Knesset members were removed from the chamber as they approached the podium to remonstrate with Zoabi.

Israel Radio news says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked for legal advice on whether Zoabi can be banned from the Knesset. Meanwhile, writing in Yediot Ahronot, Ben-Dror Yeminis says that Zoabi “wanted the Knesset to boil over in response to yet another inciting speech in support of terrorism… ‎It is true that Zoabi is upsetting, but that is no reason for the MKs to fall into her trap so easily.”

The top story in Maariv addresses the prison conditions for convicted Hamas terrorists. It comes as a response to a security cabinet decision to look into the possibility of hardening conditions, in order to pressure Hamas into releasing an Israeli civilian and the bodies of two soldiers. The Maariv report says that Hamas prisoners enjoy generous conditions including stipends and televisions in their cells.

Another major item in Maariv, also covered in Israel Hayom, is the news that nine Israeli peace activists were attacked in Ramallah yesterday evening. They were visiting a Palestinian colleague to break the Ramadan fast. One of their cars was firebombed and torched as they left the city.