The Times, i, Metro and the online edition of the Financial Times report on the weekend controversy in Israel over work on the railway system, which was scheduled to take place over the Jewish Sabbath but was cancelled following pressure from ultra-Orthodox political parties. The cancellation led to huge delays for commuters yesterday morning, the first day of the Israeli working week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Transport Minister Yisrael Katz for the disruption, leading to increased tension between the two.

The Financial Times and Times cover a visit to Britain by Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, to promote investment in Israel’s energy sector. In particular, the Financial Times focuses on Israeli plans to auction its offshore natural resources to some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. Steinitz is quoted saying “Israel is back in business” after regulatory issues had stymied the industry’s progress. Writing in the Times, Ian King points to the prospect of greater regional cooperation due to energy interests. He says that while continuing global dependence on fossil fuels is “not to everyone’s liking….if it helps to bring peace between Israel and its neighbours, everyone should cheer”.

The i includes an interview with Joseph Harmatz, one of the last surviving members of the “Avengers”, who lives in north Tel Aviv. Harmatz and around 50 other Holocaust survivors launched an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to poison Nazi prisoners at an American run camp in 1947.

The Daily Mail says that West Yorkshire Police are conducting an investigation into comments made via social media by Labour’s Bradford MP Naz Shah, which appeared to endorse the deportation of Jewish Israelis to the US. The episode led to Shah being temporarily suspended from the party earlier this year, during which time she issued an apology for her comments.

The Guardian online reports that there has been a setback to talks between the US and Russia at the G7 summit over an agreement to joint action on ISIS in Syria. US President Obama is quoted saying that “grave differences” remain.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom is the controversy over railway work on the Sabbath and the subsequent tensions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Transport Minister Katz. Both Yediot Ahronot and Maariv include polls which indicate that a large majority of the public support Katz in the dispute and blame Netanyahu. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Sima Kadmon says that “Netanyahu’s greatest fear should be over the public sense, which is increasing and intensifying, even among his voters, that he has run his course”. Meanwhile, Israel Hayom’s front page headline posits “The test: Next Sabbath”.

Both Maariv and Israel Radio news prominently report that Israeli forces attacked rocket launchers in the Syrian Golan Heights belonging to President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, after a shell was fired across the border into Israeli territory yesterday afternoon. The mortar is thought to have been stray fire from the fighting in Syria, but Israel holds Syrian government forces responsible for fire emanating from its territory.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio news reports an attempted car ramming attack yesterday in the Shuafat camp in East Jerusalem. Two Palestinians in a car in it attempted to ram Border Police who had completed an operation. Officers opened fire on the car, killing one of the assailants, while the other was taken to a Jerusalem hospital with light to moderate injuries.