The Times reports on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s confrontation with the right-wing in response to criticism over his handling of the al-Aqsa Mosque crisis and the removal of additional security measures around the Mosque. Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting that he was “attentive to public feeling,” but that he “must make decisions coolly and judiciously. I do that out of a view of the big picture”. Polls have found that two thirds of Israelis disapprove of how Mr. Netanyahu handled the situation.

The Telegraph, Times, I and the BBC all report on the rejection of an appeal by Elor Azaria, a Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian attacker in Hebron last year. The court did however reject the prosecution’s request for an extension of Azaria’s 18-month sentence.

The Israeli media focus overwhelmingly on the verdict in the appeal of Elor Azaria.   Israel Hayom, Maariv and Yediot Ahronot all lead with Chief of Staff Eisenkot considering a lighter sentence.

Maariv includes a range of quotes from politicians from across the spectrum. Prime Minister Netanyahu posted on Twitter that “my opinion on granting Elor Azaria a pardon has not changed, as I said after the verdict”. ‎ Netanyahu added that  “when the matter actually comes up for review, I will give my recommendation for a pardon to the relevant authorities”.  Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett also joined the call for a pardon and said: “The verdict is hard to accept, but the court should be respected. The time has come after a year and a half of suffering to pardon Elor Azaria. Elor Azaria has to come home both for our soldiers at the front and in order to prevent the loss of our deterrence. I have full confidence in Chief of Staff Eisenkot and in the commanders of the IDF. In any case though, there is no place for the calls that have been heard in the past.”  Calls for a pardon were also made by a range of Likud MK. MK Oren Hazan (Likud), a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who accompanied Azaria since the beginning of the affair, said in response to the decision: “There is nothing holy about a terrorist. Only in Israel is an outstanding soldier who killed a despicable terrorist who came to murder and spill Jewish blood forcibly turned into a felon convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. This is not the way that a country that loves life acts. So on such a sad day, I am simply ashamed”. Labour Party Chairman Avi Gabbay said “publicly elected officials spoke actively despite their position. People with an official status undermined the purity of the judicial process. At the height of the affair, we saw Avigdor Lieberman squirming in the television studios, defending the wave of fulmination that he himself led before being appointed defence minister. We also saw the mask being torn from Netanyahu’‎s face, who in this affair too, the vertigo of his leadership was clear. All in the name of his political battle against Bennett for 3.5 seats from the right wing margins…I say what I said after the ruling – politicians should not meddle in legal processes”.

Commentary in Yediot Ahronot suggests, “The noise that accompanied the Azaria trial from the outside revealed dangerous processes in Israeli society. It turns out that for many Israelis, hatred of the other overcomes all else – it overcomes the facts, the laws and the norms and military ethics, it overcomes common sense and state responsibility. Anyone who reads social media receives the impression that we’‎ve become a country of vigilantes, volunteer executioners, hangmen, in a war of life and death”. The paper continues by claiming that “‎when social media talks, the politicians obey – at least some of them. Even as the ruling was being read, the prime minister, the defense minister and the education minister all spoke in favour of a pardon”.

Haaretz highlights political tension within the Joint (Arab) list. The Joint List, which has 13 seats and is comprised of three distinct ideological factions, is reportedly arguing over rotation of leadership in a disagreement that threatens to dismantle the party.

Yediot Ahronot reports a Jordanian newspaper published the picture and full name of the Israeli security officer, Ziv Moyal, who shot two Jordanian citizens to death a week ago in the residential compound of the embassy in Amman. The paper notes that this was an extraordinary step that would not have been taken without the authorisation of the Jordanian leadership. The Jordanian government has demanded that Israel fully investigate the security officer before Ambassador Einat Schlein is allowed to return to Amman.

‎Kan radio news reports on continued tension with Jordan. Local media reported that 75 members of parliament, half of all the representatives, signed a petition demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Jordan and to withdraw the Jordanian ambassador from Israel.

Maariv continues its focus on the corruption affair in the purchase of submarines.  This morning Mickey Ganor, the contractor who turned state witness, claims David Shimron the lawyer (who is also the Prime Ministers close confidant) was his business partner.