The Independent reports on the corruption scandal surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family. They focus on Israeli media reports and assert that it is increasingly likely the Prime Minister will be indicted on corruption charges.

The Daily Mail  reports that Netanyahu has personally intervened to prevent an Al-Jazeera journalist attending a government conference on press freedom. The Israeli Government Press Office said that the PM is still pushing to strip the organisation of its credentials in Israel but that the move faces legal hurdles.

The Times  and BBC News Online both report on the Israeli airstrike on a Syrian facility alleged to be producing chemical weapons. The strike took place in the early hours of Thursday morning and involved four Israeli planes. Israel has followed its policy of not commenting and Syrian President Assad has claimed that the strike was intended to boost the morale of ISIS, who he claims is an Israeli creation.

The Daily Mail also reports on the veiled warning given to Iran by Israeli Defence Force (IDF) head of Military Intelligence Major General Herzi Halevi after Israel’s airstrike on Syria. Halevi did not make direct reference to the strike but warned Israel’s enemies “near and far” and that they knew “very well the combination of precise intelligence and operational capabilities” that the IDF possess.

Channel 2 News reports that the Prime Minister’s wife Sara Netanyahu has been indicted by the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit this morning.

Overnight and this morning all the Israeli media were speculating on the impending indictment, with the the papers reporting that the Attorney General  had already informed Mrs Netanyahu last night that was going to announce his decision to indict her in the affair involving extravagant meals in the Prime Minister’s Residence today.  She allegedly ordered gourmet meals from chefs and restaurants for a sum of NIS 400,000, and passed the cost onto the state.   Yediot Ahronot concludes, “It can be presumed that if this indictment made it past the Attorney Heneral, who has done everything possible to postpone the inevitable—then we are talking about a document that is cast in concrete.”

In response Kan radio news reported this morning that the Netanyahu family said that “the allegations against the Prime Minister’s wife were absurd and would be proven to be groundless. The sharp increase in the expenses for meals in the Prime Minister’s Residence was caused by offences committed by the problematic caretaker, Meni Naftali, and that he is levelling false accusations at the Prime Minister’s wife in order to evade responsibility for the offences he committed. The Netanyahu family’s response stated further that not only had the Prime Minister’s wife not committed any offence, but the preoccupation with the food of the Prime Minister—who works around the clock on behalf of the state and its security—and with his family’s food, was a pathetic and obsessive preoccupation.’  Maariv cites Minister Miri Regev, coming to Sara Netanyahu’s defence and how she is saddened by the blackening of her name.

All the Israeli papers lead on the strike on a base in Syria that is understood to have produced chemical weapons and long-range precision missiles.  Maariv, leads with the assessment from Israeli security officials that Assad will not respond to the attack.  The papers also note the unusual target this time, it was not a weapons convoy but rather a military installation.  Furthermore,  “a strike deep inside Syria, if the reports are true, is not only a clear message to Assad but also to Russia and Iran… the possibility should not be  ruled out that it was decided to send a signal, by means of a strike, as to what Israel cannot accept.”

Yediot Ahronot write that the precision missile program of Iran, Syria and Hezbollah is the IDF’s “top priority” and that Israel had warned the key players repeatedly about it. The papers says that “if yesterday’s attack was indeed by the IDF, this was a statement making it clear that Israel stands behind its threats. Credibility is very important in the changing Middle East… An important and sensitive moment of testing has now arrived: will Israel stand behind its threats and risk opening a front with Hezbollah, or will it refrain from this due to concern of escalation.”  The paper also quotes Director of Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevy speaking yesterday. He said: “The threats to Israel are from armed organizations, most of which have funding and assistance from Iran. These are known threats, but not existential ones. We are contending with these threats with determination, those that are close and those that are far.”

Yediot Ahronot, also notes Russia’s low-key reaction, concluding: “This means that Israel can continue to operate in Syria within certain parameters, which do not harm Russian interests… The conclusion that the Iranians can draw… is that the Russians will not prevent Israeli strikes against Iranian forces in the Golan Heights.”