Reuters and The Financial Times cover Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to the nation last night. The latter also quotes former head of the Mossad Tamir Pardo’s remarks this week that if the reasonableness bill passed it would constitute “the end of democracy”. “We will be similar to Iran and Hungary,” he said; “ostensibly a democracy, in practice a dictatorship.” Reuters quotes an Israeli who once more took to the streets in protest after Netanyahu’s address. “To put it plainly, he’s the biggest liar ever so we don’t trust a word he says,” said Irit Edri, a 50 year-old a lawyer in Tel Aviv. “He is calling for talks or whatever just because it serves him. We’ve been there so many times, we don’t buy this anymore we need to stop this legislation completely.”

The Independent features former Shin Bet head Nadav Argaman’s comments yesterday that he was “very worried that we’re on the verge of a civil war.” Expressing support for reservists suspending reporting for duty, Argaman said: “We need to stop this legislation by any means.”

The BBC reports Israel condemning the EU’s outgoing envoy to the Palestinians after he paraglided over Gaza’s coast to draw attention to the blockade of the strip. “The European diplomat forgot a long time ago that he represents the European Union and its member states,” an Israeli spokesperson said in a statement. “[He] continues to represent the Palestinian narrative and to be a propaganda tool in the hands of the terrorist organisations that control Gaza.”

Israeli media commentators consider Netanyahu’s address last night. In Yediot Ahronot, Sima Kadmon writes: “Netanyahu’s speech was more of the same, the lowest kind of self-righteousness… Netanyahu insists on sticking with the legislation, despite the possibility that it will bring us closer to the IDF declaring itself operationally unfit. The only chance that Netanyahu will stop is utterly dependent on the level of pressure he is under. What most troubles him is [the possibility that] hundreds of pilots and navigators on active reserve duty will quit, with other parts of the military joining them by the day.”

In Israel Hayom, Yoav Limor warns: “The assessment in the IDF is that if there is no last-minute change and the legislation continues… hundreds of reservists are likely to announce that they will stop serving, and it is also possible that career army officers will announce their decision to either resign or not extend their service… What is taking place is so deep and destructive that the IDF has warned that these processes are liable to dismantle it from the inside.”

Kan Radio reports that the US is deploying three more warships and thousands of Marines to the Middle East to protect shipping lines in response to Iran’s attempts to hijack merchant vessels. Earlier this month, Tehran tried to seize two oil tankers near the Straits of Hormuz and opened fire on one of them. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday approved the deployment of the USS Bataan amphibious readiness group and the 26th Marine Expeditional Unit, US officials confirmed. The readiness group comprises three ships, including the Bataan, while an expeditional unit usually consists of about 2,500 Marines. This latest deployment follows others in recent weeks, as the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner and a number of F-35 and F-16 fighter jets were sent to the region, along with A-10 attack aircraft.

Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is set to meet Recep Tayyip Erdogan next Friday in Turkey, three days after the Turkish president meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A Turkish official announced that the two leaders will discuss “bilateral relations” between the countries and the “steps to be taken to improve cooperation.” They previously spoke in November 2022, in their first phone call since 2013, and agreed to “work together to establish a new era in relations between Turkey and Israel.” In February, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen travelled to Turkey for talks aimed at improving Israeli-Turkish relations, which had been strained since a 2010 confrontation in the Mediterranean between the Israel Navy and a Turkish flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Ynet covers an Israeli delegation heading to Greece to assist authorities with devastating forest fires which have ravaged the Athens area for over four days. The delegation includes two “Air-Tractor” firefighting planes from the Elad squadron, pilots, ground crews and forest fire experts from Israel Fire and Rescue.

I24 News reports that Israeli authorities are treating the stabbing of a man in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighbourhood yesterday as a terror attack. The victim, a man in his 30s, was treated by Magen David Adom paramedics at the scene, before being taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in “a very serious and unstable condition.” After surgery, his condition remained “very serious”. A suspect has been arrested.

Ynet, meanwhile, covers yesterday’s incident in Nablus, in which IDF troops escorting Jewish pilgrims to Joseph’s Tomb came under attack and returned fire. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that Badr al-Masri – a 19-year-old associated with the Lion’s Den group – was killed in the exchange of fire, and that three other Palestinians were wounded, including two who are in serious condition. No injuries were reported amongst worshippers or troops.

Maariv publishes polling showing Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party edging ahead of the Likud after several weeks in which Prime Minister Netanyahu’s party had gained ground. If Knesset elections were held today, the poll predicts the following result: National Unity Party 29; Likud 28; Yesh Atid 17; Shas 9; United Torah Judaism 7; Hadash-Ta’al 5; Jewish Power 5; Meretz 5; Religious Zionist Party 5; Yisrael Beiteinu 5; United Arab List 5; Labour Party 0; Balad 0. Such a configuration would result in the coalition on 54 seats, the opposition on 56, and the currently unaligned Hadash-Ta’al and UAL on a combined 10.