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Media Summary

Israel submits Arabic-language drama as its candidate for an award at the Oscars

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The i covers Sunday’s meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York, saying that Trump pledged if elected president to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital. The article notes that Netanyahu also met Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton on the same day. The Guardian online says the Trump campaign noted that in his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump discussed “at length Israel’s successful experience with a security fence”.

The Times reports that the world’s football governing body, FIFA, is under pressure from Human Rights Watch and 66 members of the European Parliament to either relocate or ban six lower-league Israeli football clubs which are situated in the West Bank. Those pressuring FIFA argue that their location violates FIFA rules as they should technically be under the purview of the Palestinian Football Association. However, the Israeli Football Association says that issues such as disputed territory are beyond FIFA’s jurisdiction.

The Guardian reports that Israel has submitted an Arabic-language drama as its candidate for the Oscars best foreign film award. The film, “Sand Storm,” explores the conservative lives of Bedouin women in a southern Israeli village. The article notes that the film won Israel’s top film award, the Ophir, but at the recent award ceremony, the two lead actresses refused to share the stage with Likud Culture Minister Miri Regev.

The Independent reports that four Palestinian journalists have recently had their Facebook accounts suspended, saying this is a result of a recent agreement between the social media platform and Israel’s government to more robustly tackle online incitement.

The Guardian includes a picture and accompanying caption of an Israeli woman, apparently from a West Bank settlement, at her wedding in front of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, a site holy to Jews and Muslims.

On Syria, the Telegraph reports that Russia has denied accusations of war crimes and said that terrorists had been using the ceasefire as cover to regroup. The Financial Times online says that the Syrian city of Aleppo has faced “fearsome” bombing since the ceasefire collapsed.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Israel Hayom is the overnight televised debate between the two candidates for US President, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

In domestic news, the main item, which is the headline in Haaretz, and also prominently covered in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Israel Hayom, is a decision by the attorney general and state attorney to indict 16 people, mainly former leading figures from the Yisrael Beitenu Party, with charges including bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Yediot Ahronot calls it “one of the largest public corruption investigations ever revealed in Israel”. Those being charged include former Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, who is also accused of regularly using cocaine while in office, and former Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum.

Maariv reports on fresh rumours of talks between the Likud and Zionist Union to form a national unity government. However, Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog and several of the party’s MKs denied that there was any truth in the story. A Channel One poll yesterday indicated that if an election were held today, Zionist Union would see its representation halved from 24 to 12 seats. The poll also indicated that Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid would be the largest party with 25 seats, and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud Party in second with 21 seats.