Reuters reports that Israel’s new National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Sunday that he instructed police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces. Israeli law does not outlaw Palestinian flags, but police and soldiers have the right to remove them in cases where they deem there is a threat to public order. The directive from Ben-Gvir, who heads an ultranationalist party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government and as minister oversees the police, seems to take a hard line in requiring their removal.

The Financial Times reports that Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hit back at criticism of his plans for a sweeping overhaul of the country’s judiciary, branding claims that it would spell the end of democracy as “without foundation”. Thousands of people took to the streets in the liberal bastion of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest against Netanyahu’s new government — widely regarded as the most rightwing in Israeli history — which took office last month and has made reining in the judiciary one of its priorities.

The Guardian also publishes a piece criticising the new government, saying “in little more than a week, the administration has made moves towards the largest expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank since the occupation began. It has allowed the hardline minister Ben-Gvir to stage a provocative visit to a sacred mosque compound – an act that has previously led to an intifada. It has announced a plan to gut the judiciary, which, despite already leaning to the hard right, is still seen as a thorn in the side of Israeli politicians who want direct control of Palestinian and Israeli life, with no checks”.

The Economist releases a new podcast on Israel’s new government, saying it is its most right-wing ever—a status underscored by a provocative visit to a holy site by the national-security minister. Yet that may not derail deepening relations with neighbouring Arab countries.

The Telegraph publishes a piece saying Mr Ben-Gvir’s visit on Tuesday triggered “a wave of criticism from Arab and Western allies at a time when tensions with the Palestinians are already high due to the recent appointment of the most right-wing government in Israeli history”. The Telegraph interviews Palestinian merchants in Jerusalem to hear their thoughts on the new government.

The Times reports that as Netanyahu returns to power, he intends to bring the Wing of Zion, Israel’s most expensive aircraft, into service. The prime minister commissioned the refurbishment of the Boeing 767 for 729 million shekels (£173 million) when he was previously in office, but it has languished in a desert hangar since he was forced from power in June 2021.

The Guardian reports that leading civil rights organisations have condemned Harvard Kennedy School’s denial of a position to the former head of Human Rights Watch over the organisation’s criticism of Israel. A professor of human rights policy at the Kennedy School, Kathryn Sikkink, told The Nation that Elmendorf said to her that “Roth would not be permitted to take up the position because HRW has an anti-Israel bias and its former director had written tweets critical of Israel”.

The Guardian and Reuters report that Israel suspended a pass that eased the Palestinian foreign minister’s travel in and around the occupied West Bank, as part of its response to Palestinian efforts to involve the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the conflict. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing security cabinet on Friday announced a series of steps, which also included using Palestinian money to compensate victims of Palestinian militant attacks and imposing a moratorium on Palestinian construction in some areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Kan Radio reports on new Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s early progress with plans for judicial reform. In the coming days, Levin is set to submit changes to Basic Law: The Judiciary, allowing for greater political power in the selection of judges. He will also move to prepare legislation allowing the Knesset to override Supreme Court decisions and possibly abolishing reasonability as grounds for the court to strike down Knesset legislation. The station also reports Levin as meeting with Supreme Court President Esther Hayut for the first time since announcing his reforms; the meeting concluded without the traditional statements or photographs. Maariv quotes renowned Israeli lawyer Shashai Gaz as saying of the plans to extend political influence in judge selection: “the house is not yet on fire, but the fire is already in the yard… I see a legal coup, it doesn’t make sense for politicians to choose our judges.”

The plans for wide-ranging judicial review might also allow a role to be found for Likud MK David Amsalem, who thus far has been given no senior position in the new cabinet, possibly as a minister and a member of the Judges Selection Committee.

Ynet reveals that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning an imminent visit to Israel. Blinken’s trip will involve making plans for Netanyahu’s own visit to the US, scheduled for February, and getting a clearer sense of the new government’s legislative plans. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is also due to arrive soon, with both US officials likely to stress American concerns over issues such as Ben Gvir’s recent Temple Mount visit and judicial reform. Other topics of discussion are also set to include Iran, the Palestinians, the war in Ukraine, and recent steps at the UN to have the International Court of Justice rule on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

There is wide media coverage of Ultra-orthodox  coalition parties’ anger at work being done on the Israeli railway on Shabbat. Repair and upgrade work is often carried out on Shabbat since it requires the tracks be empty of trains, but Ultra-orthodox lawmakers insist that only “life-saving” work is permitted. UTJ Chairman Yitzchak Goldknopf yesterday wrote to Transport Minister Miri Regev a letter entitled “Sabbath desecration by Israel Railways”. In response, Regev convened an immediate meeting with railway officials, at which it was agreed that she be presented with their plans for the coming year by Wednesday this week, after which steps will be taken to reduce the need for work on Shabbat. Previous transport minister, Merav Michaeli, commented: “If Netanyahu and Regev capitulate to Goldknopf’s demand, they will stick us all in traffic jams and hurt the weaker sectors, particularly the periphery.” Regev is also said to have approved plans to move ahead with the Tel Aviv metropolitan metro project.

Haaretz’s Amir Tibon assesses that the rail issue is a result of the far-reaching concessions Netanyahu made to ultra-Orthodox parties during collation negotiations. “When you negotiate with far-right and religious extremists,” he writes, “no concession is ever enough; you’ll always be asked for more…  This situation is an important test for Netanyahu. If he caves to Goldknopf’s demand, his own voters will pay the price, as Likud strongholds in Israel’s so-called periphery will get worse train services. If he rejects the Haredi ultimatum, his own coalition will face its first internal crisis.”

Federation of Local Authorities Chairman and Mayor of Modiin Haim Bibas told Army Radio this morning that coalition plans for Ultra-orthodox education will cause the country’s education system to collapse. Bibas, a prominent Likud figure, said: “We will not accept this. This is not just bankruptcy of the local authorities, this is bankruptcy of the entire country.” Under the terms of the coalition agreement, the budgets for private Ultra-orthodox schools will increase and there will be no requirement on them to teach core secular subjects. Along with Bibai, reports Maariv, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, the mayors of Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Petah Tikva, Holon, Netanya, Herzliya, Haifa, Beer Sheva, Kfar Saba, Rishon Lezion, Dimona, Beit Shean, and mayors from the Arab sector have written to Netanyahu protesting the plans. “We monitored with concern the coalition agreements that were recently signed,” the letter states; “these agreements place funding obligations on the local authorities that detract from their administrative autonomy—in such a way that will undermine their management, their supervision and their funding of educational services to our residents, something we cannot agree to.”

Yediot Ahronot’s Nahum Barnea uses his column to criticise the new government’s selection of directors general for various ministries. The choices are, he says, “an embarrassing group of petty party hacks who lack any executive experience in running large organisations and/or knowledge in the spheres that they are supposed to manage.” Barnea takes particular exception to “Moshe Ben Zaken in the Transport Ministry, Osnat Mark in the Science Ministry, Elad Malka in the Communications Ministry, Kfir Suissa in the Culture Ministry and Itamar Donenfeld in the Justice Ministry. The one is a lobbyist, the second is a personal assistant and the third is active on Twitter. None of them would have passed the bar to qualify for being appointed assistant to the director general in the ministries they are now supposed to run.” Barnea argues that, to a greater extent than previously, political calculations, and not expertise or competence, have been the deciding factors in the appointment of senior ministry officials.

Haaretz covers Saturday night’s anti-government protest in Tel Aviv. Protestors met together in Habima Square, before separating into separate marches: one focussed on joint Arab-Jewish cooperation and the other on threats to the judiciary. Notable organisers included Hadash MKs Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif, Labour MK Naama Lazimi, former Meretz MK Mossi Raz, head of the Israel Bar Association Avi Himi, and Noa Sattath of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Odeh suffered an assault during the protest, which organisers estimate was attended by 20,000 people.