The BBC reports that Israel designated the UK and Denmark as countries on its COVID-19 “red list” at Thursday midnight due to concern over the spread of the Omicron variant.. Travellers returning from a “red” country must first quarantine in a hotel on arrival until they receive a negative PCR test result. They may then complete their seven days of isolation at home. Israel closed its borders to almost all foreign nationals last month in response to Omicron, just weeks after they were reopened to vaccinated travellers. Earlier this week, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz told reporters that Israel could not be “hermetically sealed”, but that it was possible to delay the spread of Omicron in the country.
 
Reuters reports that the Joint Commission of the JCPOA will plan to meet on today at 1pm to adjourn talks on salvaging the deal, three diplomats said on Thursday. Iran’s chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said efforts to revive the nuclear deal will be held in Vienna on Friday before breaking for a “few days”. Kani said on Twitter that he met EU political director Enrique Mora and other delegates on Thursday “to take stock of the situation and discuss the way forward. We have made good progress this week. We will convene a Joint Commission today and will continue talks after a break of a few days.” He did not give a date.
 
The Guardian and Financial Times note Iran and the UN inspector have reached an agreement on the imminent reinstallation of cameras at the Karaj nuclear facility, “a move that is seen as indispensable to keeping alive the broader nuclear talks and the lifting of US sanctions on Tehran”.
 
The Independent writes that a former media officer for Qatar’s World Cup organising committee has been jailed for three years on charges including bribery and misuse of funds.
 
All the Israeli media continue to cover the spread of the Omicron strain, with suspected cases nearly doubling within two days. Yediot Ahronot notes the Health Ministry identified 150 suspected cases on Tuesday and 283 on Thursday. However, the number of confirmed cases remains unchanged at 89. According to the ministry, 28 people who arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport over the past week have been confirmed as coronavirus carriers, although it is unclear if they are infected with the Omicron strain. Israel also reported on Thursday a mass Omicron outbreak at a school in Jerusalem. After routine testing at Tehilla-Evelina de Rothschild Secondary School, 62 students and two staff members were confirmed to have been infected with the variant. Also on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said that it had identified the first cases of the Omicron variant in the West Bank.
 
Israel Hayom reports that the Foreign Ministry has announced Israel will donate one million AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to the United Nations-backed COVAX programme. Foreign Minister Lapid said: “I am delighted that Israel can contribute and be a partner in eradicating the pandemic around the world.” The doses will be transferred in the coming weeks, a decision that was part of Israel’s strengthening ties with the African countries.
 
Maariv reports that the government has backed down on its plan to require shopping malls to implement the Green Certificate programme. The plan was supposed to go into effect today but has been cancelled against the wishes of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who pushed for the regulation to be implemented. However, several cabinet ministers spoke out against the programme’s implementation in malls, as well as the additional practical difficulties in enforcing the regulations. The director general of the Public Security Ministry said the Green Certificate Programme could not be enforced at shopping malls because some essential services are located inside indoor malls. The public has the right to access those services even if they are not vaccinated.
 
Israel Hayom reveals plans that the “IDF has begun to prepare for all-out war with Iran, and an attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities will only be one part of that war. The new operational plans address scenarios in which the two countries trade ‘blows’ of varying degrees of severity with one another — directly and by proxy.” According to the report, “The IDF currently has only partial readiness, after preparations were neglected in the last decade following the signing of the JCPOA. Those preparations were accelerated this year once again, but another three to five years will be needed for the IDF to achieve full readiness. Israel is also developing capabilities that will expand the range of options it has for operating against Iran, and intends to dramatically increase its stockpile of bombs and interceptor missiles for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems in preparation of a future conflagration with Iran.” The paper further notes, “Israel will also have to decide on its red lines that, if crossed, will precipitate an attack in Iran. The actual attack might be limited or broad, and it might extend only to the enrichment facilities in Natanz and Qom (Fordo), other facilities that are linked to the nuclear programme, and possibly also Revolutionary Guard facilities. Israel presumably will first attack the Iranian air-defence systems in any scenario so as to reduce the threat to the IAF’s planes.” 
 
Ynet reports that the Environmental Protection Ministry has blocked a deal with partners from the UAE to transport oil from the Gulf to Europe via Eilat because of the “fragile coral reef”. The article explains that “environmentalists had petitioned the Supreme Court to block the agreement, signed between an Israeli state-owned company and a venture with Emirati and Israeli owners, which allows for oil unloaded from tankers in the Red Sea port of Eilat to be moved across Israel in an existing pipeline to the Mediterranean coast”. The government said it would not intervene and would instead allow the Environmental Protection Ministry to play its regulatory role limiting activities that pose ecological risks. “We blocked the entry of dozens of oil tankers into the Gulf of Eilat,” Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg said in a statement, adding that Israel “will not become a bridge of pollution in an era of the climate crisis”. The minister had previously come out against the deal, also over environmental concerns.
 
Kan Radio News reports that President Herzog called King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain last night and congratulated him on his country’s 50th Independence Day. The King of Bahrain thanked the President and said that both countries had more in common than not, particularly their wishes for regional peace, prosperity and success. Israeli Ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Naeh is scheduled to present his credentials to the king of Bahrain soon.