BBC News, the Guardian and Times report that Prime Minister Netanyahu has denied a report that Israel spied on the US. Politico cites three former senior US officials who say Israel was likely to be behind surveillance devices found near the White House. But Netanyahu’s office said this was “a blatant lie”. “There is a longstanding commitment, and a directive from the Israeli government not to engage in any intelligence operations in the US.” US President Donald Trump said in response: “I really would find that hard to believe, my relationship with Israel has been great,” Trump said.

The Guardian, Independent and Financial Times report that Facebook has suspended a chatbot on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official page for breaching its hate speech policy by sending visitors a message warning of Arabs “want[ing] to destroy us all”.  Facebook said it had suspended the automated chat function on the page after it found a violation of its hate speech policy.

Reuters reports that US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has insisted that the US  is still pursuing its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, despite President Trump’s dismissal of national security adviser John Bolton. In an interview with CNBC, Mnuchin also said that there is no current plan for Trump to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly later this month, although he reiterated that Trump is open to meeting with Rouhani with no preconditions.

The Guardian reports that the Russian Foreign Ministry has denounced Prime Minister Netanyahu’s pledge to annex up to a third of the West Bank if re-elected in next weeks’ Israeli elections, which was subsequently condemned by the Palestinians, Arab League UN and EU. The ministry claimed that Netanyahu’s move could “lead to a sharp escalation of tension in the region and undermine hopes for the establishment of a long-awaited peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours”. The Kremlin has not yet commented. Netanyahu flew into Sochi on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the Economist, Anshel Pfeffer examines whether Prime Minister Netanyahu’s vow to annex part of the West Bank will work: “By now it is something of an Israeli ritual. As an election looms, Benjamin Netanyahu digs deep for ways to scare or thrill his hawkish supporters”.

Reuters reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel must be allowed to act freely against Iran during his visit to Sochi, where the two discussed security coordination in Syria.

The Telegraph reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Sochi represents an attempt to win over Russian-speaking Israeli voters ahead of next week’s election: “With the Israeli prime minister running neck and neck with his centrist rival ahead of Tuesday’s vote, his Likud party is pouring resources into winning over 800,000 Israeli voters from the former Soviet Union”.

Reuters reports that prior to his scheduled visit to Sochi, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened war in Gaza. In an interview with Kan, Netanyahu was questioned about persistent rocket attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza.  “We will probably be forced – there’ll be no choice – to enter into a campaign, a war, in Gaza,” Netanyahu said.

Reuters reports that Israeli parties are courting Israeli Arabs ahead of next week’s election. Blue and White has plastered Arab towns with campaign posters, while Benny Gantz has appeared on Arabic language television, hoping to capitalise on the growing number of Arab voters ditching Arab parties. “This is a change in strategy from the previous election,” said Ram Ben-Barak, a Blue and White candidate and former deputy director of Mossad.

Reuters reports that the new US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs David Schenker has stated that future US sanctions could target allies of Hezbollah, extending beyond direct affiliates of the Iran-backed Shi’ite group. “In the future we will designate, because we have to, individuals in Lebanon who are aiding and assisting Hezbollah, regardless of their sect or religion”. When asked if this meant targetting allies of Hezbollah, Schenker said “absolutely”.

The Times and Daily Mail report that the British-Australian travel blogger detained in Iran arrived in a communal jail “scared from her experience in solitary” confinement, according to the husband of inmate Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Jolie King was moved to Evin prison in Tehran after she and her Australian boyfriend Mark Firkin were arrested in July. She is being held with Zaghari-Ratcliffe the British-Iranian mother who has been in prison since 2016 on espionage charges. The Independent reports that King and Firkin were detained in Iran for flying a drone. Reuters reports that Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she met last week with her Iranian counterpart, seeking to secure the release of three citizens held by Tehran.

Reuters reports that air strikes pounded southern Idlib on Thursday despite a ceasefire that halted an army offensive against the rebel stronghold two weeks ago.

Reuters reports that a top British navy official has claimed that the UK decision to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz has helped to stabilise commercial shipping through the chokepoint. Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd said it had “committed quite a few ships, aircraft and other capabilities to the Strait of Hormuz area because it’s a live issue”. “We have deployed assets for the very reason to stabilise,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the London International Shipping Week conference.

Reuters reports that the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said on Thursday it will subpoena President Trump’s special Afghanistan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to testify on 19 September after the abrupt cancellation of talks with the Taliban. Representative Eliot Engel, the committee’s Democratic chairman, said he signed the subpoena after the State Department ignored numerous requests for briefings by Khalilzad about the Afghanistan peace plan.

BBC News and the Independent report that relatives of a Palestinian woman whose death was labelled an ‘honour killing’ by activists have been charged with her murder. Israa Ghrayeb was beaten to death by three relatives, the West Bank’s chief prosecutor alleges. She suffered “severe respiratory failure” due to complications from injuries caused by “torture and abuse” and died in hospital in August.

Reuters reports that OPEC agreed on Thursday to trim oil output by asking over-producing members Iraq and Nigeria to bring production in line with their targets. The group is striving to prevent a glut amid soaring US production and global economic slowdown.

The Guardian and Reuters report that a French court has given the daughter of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman a 10-month suspended sentence for ordering her bodyguard to detain and beat a workman who was renovating a family apartment in Paris. Hassa bint Salman was also fined €10,000. She left France soon after the 2016 incident.

Reuters reports that Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals has ordered the release of six former employees of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper jailed on terror-related charges. The top court’s ruling that the journalists should be released is binding and the lawyers told Reuters they expected it to be implemented immediately.

In Reuters, Maayan Lubell and Elana Ringler report on the increasing number Christian evangelicals helping harvest land in settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli media publish final election polls: Kan News, Maariv and Israel Hayom published the latest election polls today ahead of Tuesday’s election. All the polls predict that neither Benjamin Netanyahu or Benny Gantz are likely to be able to build a 61 seat majority coalition, although the Kan and Israel Hayom polls predict respectively a 59 seat and 58 seat Likud-led right wing bloc without Avigdor Lieberman’s party.

• All the polls find support for Labour and the Democratic Union is decreasing with one poll predicting they will win 5 and 4 seats. The far right extremist Jewish Power is predicted in two polls to win four seats.

Likud now targeting ultra-Orthodox voters: According to Yediot Ahronot, ultra-Orthodox Likud activists have begun a campaign with Likud pamphlets and posters in their neighbourhoods urging voters to reject the United Torah Judaism party.

• The campaign has been written and designed for an ultra-Orthodox audience with messages in Aramaic and Rashi script. The Likud did not sign the ads, perhaps to deceive the readers into thinking that the instructions came from rabbis.

Shouting match ahead of Jordan Valley announcement: Ben Caspit in Maariv reveals that last Tuesday, the day that Prime Minister Netanyahu declared his intention to annex the Jordan Valley after the elections, an unprecedented “shouting match” took place between him and the directors of the security agencies. This conversation included a harsh exchange of words after Netanyahu informed them of his plan.

• Netanyahu’s declaration was delayed almost an hour and a half because of this conversation and according to some sources, the Prime Minister changed his mind about announcing the immediate annexation of the West Bank because of the severe criticism that he heard. According to Caspit the criticism was mainly voiced by Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi.
• Caspit says: “The top security officials argued that such a declaration must be made after in-depth discussion, staff work and an examination of the potential damage versus advantages. They told the Prime Minister of the possible damaging scenarios of the immediate annexation of the Jordan Valley just before elections with no sweeping American backing. The delicate situation of King Abdullah of Jordan was also raised, as was the possibility that this would shake and perhaps even endanger his reign and could cause the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan to be suspended.  For several minutes, the security officials told the Prime Minister about the risks of such a course of action and the irresponsibility of making such a statement with no preparatory work, with no coordination among the various branches, with no preparation to receive international backing and without informing Israel’s partners in the Middle East….It is believed that as a result of the conversation, Netanyahu decided to tone down his message and to only declare his intention to annex the Jordan Valley and not the West Bank.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu temporarily sanctioned by Facebook: Ynet reports that Facebook said Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Facebook page violated its hate speech policy after an inflammatory post aimed against Israel’s Arab population appeared on his official social media page.

• Facebook said on Thursday that the social network had suspended for 24 hours the page’s bot, or automated chat function. The page had called on voters to prevent the establishment of a government composed of “Arabs who want to destroy us all – women, children and men.” Netanyahu denied he wrote the post and said it was a staffer’s mistake and the post was removed.

Likud fined by the Central Election Committee: Kan news reports that Central Elections Committee Chairman Justice Hanan Melcer ordered the Likud to pay NIS 15,000 (£3,500) to the Democratic Union and an identical sum to Blue and White because Prime Minister Netanyahu’s announcement about the Jordan Valley also included election propaganda. The Likud spokesperson admitted that Netanyahu had slipped content into his remarks, 25 per cent of which was likely election propaganda. He apologised and said that from now on election propaganda would not be voiced at events that were likely to be broadcast live. Justice Melcer warned that any further violations by the Likud or Prime Minister Netanyahu would incur a NIS 50,000 fine (£11,500).