BBC News reports authorities in Saudi Arabia have warned citizens that spreading ‘baseless’ rumours across social media platforms could be faced with a huge fine and up to five years in prison. This comes amid reports circulating online claiming that several women were sexually harassed after a concert in Riyadh was cancelled and people tried to leave the venue. Turki al-Sheikh, the head of the Saudi Entertainment Authority, “posted a number of tweets that appeared to mock the reports of harassment as entirely made up”. However, several women have told the BBC they fear speaking up about what happened after the event due to the warning from the Saudi authorities.

The Times reports that Saudi Arabia has launched an air raid on Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, in what is being called the biggest attack on the city in over two years. The Houthi rebels said that a family of 14 were killed in the air raid. This comes a day after the unprecedented drone and cruise missile attack by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on a storage facility in the UAE that killed three people.

The Financial Times reports on the recent strike by the Iranian backed Houthi rebels on the UAE. The paper examines how the attack is testing efforts by the UAE to ease tensions with Iran, noting that “Emirati officials will seek to establish whether they acted unilaterally this week or with a tacit green light from Tehran.”

The Financial Times reports on early findings from an Israeli study that suggest a fourth Pfizer jab is ineffective in blocking the Omicron variant. Despite boosting antibodies, the fourth jab does not produce enough needed to protect against catching the variant.

The Guardian and Reuters report that Israeli authorities have evicted a Palestinian family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, and subsequently demolished it. Israeli authorities said they were enforcing a court-approved eviction order of “illegal buildings built on grounds designated for a school for children with special needs”. The development comes two days after a member of the family threatened to blow up the house if they were evicted.

The Economist writes about how the Middle East is re-embracing its Jewish communities, noting that “changing attitudes and self-interested leaders are behind a surprising religious revival”.

In the Israeli media, the headlines are dominated by yesterday’s investigative report in Calcalist about illegal hacks and surveillance that allegedly were carried out by the police against Israeli citizens using the NSO Group’s software. A senior law enforcement said another spyware and not the Pegasus software was used to remotely plant a Trojan horse on the target’s cell phone to remotely control it and copy its contents. According to the investigative report, Police used the software to search for evidence of bribery on the mobile phones of two incumbent mayors, to monitor the activities of people who participated Black Flag protests, as well as opponents of the Gay Pride Parade, a phone owned by a close associate to a senior politician suspected of corruption, and employees of a government company who were suspects of an investigation into fraud allegations. The software was first purchased by the police in December 2013, during Yohanan Danino’s tenure as police commissioner, and became operational under Danino’s successor, Roni Alsheich.

Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev said he was “not at peace” with the use of software to hack into the phones of private citizens and promised to investigate the affair. “I don’t like there being wiretapping of civilians either — not by the police and not by the GSS [security services],” he said in an interview with Yediot Ahronont. Justice Ministry officials said that hacking into a computer or cell phone without a court order is illegal without the attorney general’s permission. The department of the State Attorney’s Office that is responsible for cyber-related issues, which is tasked with supervising digital wiretaps and hacks, had not approved any such action. However, Police Commissioner Insp. Gen. Yaakov Shabtai said that he had ordered an internal investigation of all the cases described above and that “tools were not used against Black Flag demonstrators, mayors’ telephones and to surveil opponents of the Gay Pride Parade. That information is incorrect.” Shabtai added: “Regarding the use of enforcement measures in general, as stated, everything is done with necessary legal approval. The Israel Police does not use its advanced technological capabilities against civilians and innocent demonstrators.”

Commenting in Yediot Ahronot, Einav Schiff writes that the “convergence of interests between NSO and the Israel Police is still the ultimate nightmare-come-true. On the one hand is a tech company that sells weapons of mass destruction of privacy; on the other is an institution whose mandate allows it to use violence to maintain order, but one that is also weak and deterred after years of being given tasks that have worn it down; an institution that suffers from organizational rot and political suffocation. And now the capabilities of an irresponsible corporation have met the distress of an uninhibited police to converge to prove that Israel is far more similar to its neighbors than one might have thought.” Schiff writes in conclusion that “the drama isn’t about an ineluctable clash between the state and tech corporations, but collaboration between them. And that, in case you were wondering, has the greatest and most palpable potential of all at present of leading to the ‘end of democracy.’”

In Haaretz, Amos Harel writes: “NSO is now viewed as a sort of poisonous brand. It is unclear whether the company will survive this crisis … but Gonen’s investigation also reinforces another suspicion: NSO is part of the very heart and soul of the Israeli establishment. If the company does collapse in the end, under the pressure of the sanctions and investigations coming from the United States and other countries, it will have repercussions for government bodies in Israel, too, and Israel’s international relations.”

A new poll commissioned by Israel Hayom has found that Benjamin Netanyahu is still the politician most people believe is best suited to serve as prime minister. According to the poll, 34 per cent of respondents chose Netanyahu whilst 17 per cent picked Yair Lapid. Naftali Bennett is viewed by only 6 per cent of the public as being best suited to serve as prime minister, lower than Benny Gantz, who has 7 per cent. The poll also found that if Netanyahu steps down from the Likud and is replaced by either Yuli Eldestein or Yisrael Barkat, the party will lose up to half it seats in the next election and would propel Yesh Atid to becoming the largest party in Israel. Nir Barkat is the only Likud MK who can maintain the party’s popularity after Netanyahu. If elections were held today, the Likud would win 34 seats, followed by Yesh Atid 18, Shas 9, Labour 8, Religious Zionists 8, UTJ 7, Arab Joint List 7, Yisrael Beiteinu 6, Ra’am 5, Yamina 5, Meretz 4 and New Hope 0.

Kan Radio reports that Israel and Turkey are in advanced talks to coordinate a visit by President Isaac Herzog to Ankara. President Erdogan invited President Herzog to Turkey in one of the telephone conversations they held in recent months. A reciprocal visit by a Turkish official to Israel may be coordinated following that visit. Erdogan said yesterday that he believed that it would be possible to revive a plan to lay a natural gas pipeline from Israel to Europe via Turkish territory. Israeli officials told Kan Radio last night that any progress in that initiative would not come at the expense of Israel’s allies, Greece and Cyprus.

Channel 12 News reports that two days after family members barricaded themselves in their home with gas balloons, last night the Salahiya family were evicted from their home in the East Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. The family was evicted following a decision by the Jerusalem District Court that a special education school and six kindergartens should be built in the public area on which the house sits. A total of 18 people were arrested during the operation as crowds gathered to protest the eviction. The police said: “Since the ruling, the family has been given countless opportunities to hand over the land with consent, but they refused to do so, even after extensions, meetings and repeated attempts by the Jerusalem municipality. Therefore, the Jerusalem municipality acted as ordered by the court and implemented the orders issued by the court.”

Maariv notes that unless a dramatic breakthrough is achieved in the next few days in negotiations for a plea agreement with Opposition leader Netanyahu, it will be difficult to bridge the gaps between the parties before the attorney general completes his tenure in less than two weeks. According to recent reports, sources close to Avichai Mandelblit have become increasingly sceptical about the possibility of a plea agreement being concluded soon. Meanwhile, the political system remains focused on the day after Netanyahu if a plea agreement is signed. Senior members of UTJ yesterday denied reports that if Netanyahu signs a plea bargain the ultra-Orthodox parties, in whole or in part, will join the Bennett-Lapid government.

Walla reports that the Knesset’s Finance Committee has approved an additional NIS 11.35 billion for the Ministry of Defence to purchase the next generation of German submarines. This amount reflects the more expensive price of the deal from what was initially report back in 2017, when the initial memorandum of understanding between Israel and Germany was signed, which was estimated at €1.8bn. As part of the understandings between the parties, the German government undertook to bear costs of €600m. But in the last year, ThyssenKrupp has raised the price of the deal to €3.1bn, meaning the amount Israel must pay for the deal has doubled from €1.2bn €2.5bn. During a meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Bennett said that the delays in finalising the submarine deal and the price increase were a result of his predecessor’s conduct in office. “It’s neither good nor pleasant but it’s the price for dropping this ball for several years,” Bennett said. An official who attended the meeting noted that Bennett and the other ministers voted in favour of the deal with the understanding that there is no other alternative.