The Times, the BBC, the Express and The Guardian all report on former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks’ interview with the New Statesman in which he described Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as “an antisemite” who had “legitimised the public expression of hate”. Lord Sacks, who was Chief Rabbi of Britain’s orthodox community from 1991 to 2013, gave an exclusive interview to the New Statesman, where he said Corbyn’s remarks about Zionists are the most offensive by a British politician since Enoch Powell’s “rivers of blood” speech. A Labour Spokeswoman said in response that the comparison with Powell is “absurd and offensive,” arguing that “Jeremy Corbyn is determined to tackle antisemitism both within the Labour party and in wider society”.

The Guardian publish an oped by Ahmad Khalidi who argues that Corbyn’s use of the term Zionists may be open to criticism, but his right to oppose Zionism is not. Khalidi says that those who evoke the Nazi analogy for the Palestinian case are wrong, as it stands soundly on its own moral and political grounds, but instead they allow “the other side to obfuscate its own crimes while hiding under the mantle of outrage at the very comparison”.

The Independent reports on how Gaza-based software companies are launching coding academies across the Palestinian territories to help create jobs. The initiative was first launched with Google and the Mercy Corps charity in 2011 and last year Gaza Sky Geek launched Gaza’s first coding academy together with London-based computer training company Founders and Coders. Now the tech hub is trying to expand into the West Bank.

The FT reports on the deepening relationship between Israel and Russia. The article claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “unlikely alliance” with Russian President Vladimir Putin has benefited both leaders militarily and survived the shifting loyalties of the Syrian civil war. “What matters above all are the shared interests, but this kind of understanding builds an open trust, and it allows us to speak about complex issues,” said Alex Selsky a former advisor to Netanyahu on relations with Russia.

The Times reports that left-wing and liberal politicians in Egypt face imprisonment if they peak up against an intensifying wave of repression under President Sisi. The trigger for the latest protest was the arrest last week of Masoum Marzouk, a prominent former diplomat, who called for a referendum on the current leadership.

TheBBC and The Guardian and the FT lead on a new report by the so-called Group of Experts that claim the Yemeni government forces, the Saudi-led coalition backing them, and the rebel Houthi movement have made little effort to minimise civilian casualties. The report says “individuals in the government of Yemen and the coalition may have conducted attacks in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution that may amount to war crimes”. The report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next month.

The Express report that senior UK officials are attempting to flout US “punitive economic measures imposed on Iran” through clandestine talks with Japan. During past sanctions on Iran, Japan found legal loopholes to allow it to import oil despite global restrictions. The article suggests that the UK’s move to seek advice on sanctions from Japan, which is still importing Iranian crude oil despite oil sanctions this November, marks the latest bid to deepen bilateral relations between the two nations.

The FT report on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s grilling in Parliament yesterday that took him to task for the country’s economic woes and his failure to deal with the fallout from US sanctions following Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA nuclear agreement. In what was only the second time that a sitting President has been forced to answer questions before Parliament, Rouhani said: “No, we have not reached 100 per cent of our goals [under the nuclear deal]. We can either stay in the nuclear accord or leave it. But there is also a third solution if Europe fails to meet its commitments,” he added.

Maariv, Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom all report a decision by the Jerusalem District Court that would allow a settlement built on private Palestinian property to remain standing. Citing “market regulation,” a legal term that addresses the purchase in good faith of stolen articles, the court accepted the settlers’ argument that they and the state had been unaware that the land on which Mitzpe Kramim in Binyamin was built was privately-owned Palestinian property. Kan Radio News reports that justice system officials said that the ruling could affect hundreds of houses in the West Bank. At issue are more than 1,000 housing units that, as a result of work by the Civil Administration, were located outside the blue line of their settlement. The Mitzpe Kramim settlement was built in the late 1990s and dozens of families live there.

Mako quotes several MKs and ministers on the ruling. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said that “The District Court has said clearly that anyone who settled with the state’s permission and in good faith in his home will not be evicted. The injustice that was done with the evacuation of Amona and Netiv Haavot needn’t recur.” Naftali Bennett, Chairman of the Jewish Home party said, the ruling was a “victory for decency and common sense,” adding that it was “another step towards the legalisation of the settlement [enterprise] in Judea and Samaria.” Meretz MK Michal Rozin lambasted the ruling and called on the Supreme Court to overturn it saying: “The Jerusalem District Court’s ruling serves as a trumpet for the destructive ideology that Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has been advancing, while threatening the court system, in a way that subverts the fundamental principles of constitutional law and the democratic nature of the country. Legalising the Mitzpe Kramim outpost establishes that the Palestinians’ property rights are not equal to the Jews’ property rights and that the government can legalise outposts to its heart’s content even if there are private owners of the land.”

Israel Hayom covers a report in the Daily Mail that Jeremy Corbyn said at an event in 2010, discussing the Mavi Marmara incident, that MPs who took part in the Parliamentary debate about it recited pro-Israel statements that had been prepared for them in advance by the Israeli Ambassador to London, Ron Prosor. Prosor writes in the paper that: “I woke up this morning and was surprised to discover that in addition to my job as the Israeli ambassador to Britain between 2007 and 2011, I also served in a second capacity as the personal speechwriter for the British prime minister and senior British MPs. While that certainly is flattering, let’s focus on the leader of the British Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn. In Corbyn’s view, the Jews control the British media. The Jew, i.e. the Israeli Ambassador, dictates hasbara messages to British MPs and the Prime Minister, and the Jews control the global economy.”

Maariv and Haaretz report on the Israeli response to the Iranian-Syrian military agreement. A senior official yesterday said that Israel will continue to act against Iran’s buildup in Syria both militarily and diplomatically “The IDF will continue to act with full determination against Iran’s attempts to transfer military forces and weapons systems to Syria,” adding that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made the fight against Iran’s entrenchment in Syria a primary goal. Maariv quotes the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper which claimed that the US proposed to the Syrian regime that it would fully withdraw the American army from its territory in exchange for a full Iranian withdrawal from southern Syria. Haaretz also reports that Iran and Russia are bracing for battle over control of Syria on the day after Assad’s victory

The Times of Israel and YNET report comments by US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley who openly questioned the Palestinian claim of a “right of return” to Israel, saying she believed that the hot button issue should be taken “off the table.” In remarks at the Washington think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Haley agreed with a questioner who suggested that the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) overcounts their number.