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Media Summary

Knesset votes in favour of draft recommendations bill

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The Mail Online reports that the Knesset voted on Monday in favour of a draft law preventing the police from publicising their conclusion in criminal probes, the paper states that the legislation is seen as shielding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under investigation for corruption.

The Jewish ChronicleJewish News, and the Sun Online report on BICOM’s new paper on the possible foreign policy of a Labour government under Jeremy Corbyn. BICOM CEO James Sorene is quoted in the Jewish Chronicle as saying that “when Jeremy Corbyn issued his statement on the night of the Balfour centenary… you realise the consensus was broken”.

The Mail Online also reports that Israel has mounted an Iron Dome anti-missile battery on a warship, marking the first time the rocket interception system will be operational at sea.

The Guardian reports that the use of nudity in one of Israel’s most important contemporary dance festivals has resulted in a clash between the Culture Minister Miri Regev and the festival. Regev has withdrawn government subsidies for three of the 28 performances that involve either full or partial nudity. In addition, the programme for the event will carry asterisk’s noting the partial nudity and fact they are not “supported” by the Culture Ministry or the city’s municipality.

The Times reports that Archaeologist from Tel Aviv University have uncovered what they believe was a prehistoric school, where the ancestors of modern humans taught their children how to survive by manufacturing flint instruments and dismembering animals 400,000 years ago. The site was discovered in the Kessem Cave in central Israel.

The Guardian contains an op-ed by HA Hellyer, in which he argues that the part of the reason behind the attack on a Sufi mosque in Sinai last Friday is the current prevalence in Muslim countries of anti-Sufi clerics. Hellyer argues that these “extremist” preachers twist Muslim history by representing Sufis as being outside of the mainstream Muslim tradition.

The Guardian reports that following Friday’s attack Egypt’s Sufi worshippers have cancelled their annual parade celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

The Times reports that most of the worshippers killed in the Egyptian mosque massacre had fled fighting elsewhere in north Sinai and did not share in the Sufi practices that were the target of the attackers.

The FT reports that Greece’s Defence Minister Panos Kammenos faces questions in the Greek Parliament on Monday over a controversial Greek-Saudi arms sale that could destabilise the left-wing government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

All the Israeli media discuss the recommendations bill, which last night passed its first reading in the Knesset.  The bill would prohibit the police from making its recommendations public after completing an investigation, including investigations of the Prime Minister.  A total of 46 MKs supported the bill, with 37 opposed. The Likud intends to pass the bill into law in an expedited legislative process. The Interior Committee will discuss it today, and it will be brought to its second and third readings within a week.  In the commentary, there is plenty of criticism, with Yediot Ahronot calling it “a foul, despicable and anti-democratic bill”.  Maariv quotes Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid as saying: “After the Prime Minister said that the bill was not personally tailored for him, it has immediately ensured that the bill would be tailored specifically for him. The only people who will enjoy this bill are politicians, heads of crime families and politicians who behave like the heads of crime families.” Maariv also includes criticism of Finance Minister Kahlon, who failed to turn up and vote against the bill.

All the papers report on a massive explosion in a hardware store in Jaffa last night.  Three people were killed and four others were wounded, it is feared that others are trapped in the rubble.   Israel Hayom suggests it was caused by a gas leak.

Maariv and Haaretz report the announcement by the IDF that following successful tests a new naval Iron Dome anti-rocket system has been installed on a ship.  The system, now operational, will protect Israel’s offshore natural-gas drilling platforms.

Israel Hayom has an exclusive report that senior Egyptian figures are pressuring Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations with Israel.  In the aftermath of the terror attack in Sinai, Egypt is aggressively pressuring the PA to abandon support for terror and join the moderates and form a joint front against Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIS in Sinai.

Haaretz note that IDF Spokesperson Ronen Manelis spoke at a conference for journalists, were he talked about how the IDF uses the media as part of their psychological warfare against Hezbollah.  He is quoted as saying, “There won’t be a clear victory picture in the text war, though it’s clear that Nasrallah is a target”.

Kan Radio News report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a letter calling on President Reuven Rivlin to rethink his decision not to pardon soldier Elor Azaria, who was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for killing an injured terrorist. So far, more than 50 members of the coalition have signed the request, including Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.  The President’s Residence said that a second request for a pardon could only be made in six months unless there is a substantive change in circumstances.