The Guardian and Reuters report that Iran has confirmed it will breach the JCPOA nuclear agreement by beginning to speed up the enrichment of uranium, taking stocks above permitted limits. The ultimatum is both an expression of frustration and intended as a spur to the UK, France and Germany that signed the agreement to do more to keep their end of the bargain by increasing trade with Iran. Despite numerous promises, the EU has not set up a trading mechanism that gives European businesses any confidence they can trade with Iran without falling foul of US sanctions. Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said: “The deadline of the Atomic Energy Organization for passing the production of enriched uranium from the 300kg border will end tomorrow [Thursday]. With the end of this deadline, the speed of enrichment will speed up.”

The Independent reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is supporting a bill to cancel the upcoming September election. A Likud spokesman said that if 80 Knesset members back the proposed bill it could be pushed through. It is unclear if it could be overturned by the Supreme Court. “Re-elections after elections is a waste of money and time. Right now we have many challenges in the security arena and the economic field,” Jonathan Orich said on Wednesday. Israeli journalist Anshel Pfeffer has said that the Prime Minister “has belatedly realised the public is blaming him for an unnecessary second election so he is trying to make it look as if its someone else’s fault.”

The Telegraph, Financial Times and Reuters report that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has launched a new political party. The former Labour leader said he was motivated to defeat the “corrupt and messianic” Netanyahu government. “The Netanyahu regime must be felled, not saved […] Netanyahu has reached the end,” Barak said. It is not clear if Barak will go into the election at head of his own independent party or try to merge with Blue and White or Labour. If he runs independently he may split the anti-Netanyahu vote, potentially helping the Prime Minister hold onto power.

Reuters reports that US President Donald Trump has stated that a war between the US and Iran would be swift, although he reiterated his desire to avoid a military confrontation. “I hope we don’t, but we’re in a very strong position if something should happen,” Trump told Fox Business Network when asked if a war with Iran is brewing. “I’m not talking boots on the ground … I’m just saying if something would happen, it wouldn’t last very long.”

The Times reports that Gulf states have publicly backed the economic component of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace accord. Gulf finance ministers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain joined US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the administration’s ‘Peace to Prosperity’ conference. Saudi Arabia Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said: “We and our colleagues share the view that whatever brings prosperity to this region, we will support it.” Reuters reports that Lebanon opposes the plan, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Wednesday. The $6bn set aside for Lebanon has been widely seen in the country as an incentive to accept the permanent settlement of Palestinians who have lived among the Lebanese as refugees since the creation of Israel in 1948.

Reuters reports that IMF head Christine Lagarde has stated that economic improvement in the West Bank and Gaza could happen under three conditions: that the Palestinian authority undertakes comprehensive economic reforms; that Israel eases restrictions on the movement of goods, people and capital; and with stronger financial support from international donors.

Reuters reports that the Palestinian leadership has accused the Trump administration of punishing them with one hand and offering to reward them with the other, as protesters turned out in the West Bank and Gaza to demonstrate against the US peace plan. Palestinian officials said it was the US that had inflicted hardship on Palestinians, cutting hundreds aid to humanitarian organisations across the West Bank and Gaza. The Independent reports that Jared Kushner has stated that the “door was still open” to the Palestinian leadership who have boycotted the Bahrain workshop and blamed them for the Israeli restrictions they face.

Reuters reports that Iran has warned the US against violating its borders, with parliament speaker Ali Larijani threatening a stronger reaction. “The downing of their drone was a good experience for them to avoid any aggression against our borders,” the Tasnim news agency quoted Larijani as saying late on Wednesday.

The Independent reports that Prime Minister Theresa May has issued a plea for a diplomatic solution to US-Iran tensions, as US President Donald Trump openly discusses the possibility of military action in retaliation for Tehran’s downing of a US military drone. Speaking as she set off for the G20 summit in Japan, May called for the international community to “stand together against Iran’s deeply destabilising activity” but said the priority must be “the urgent de-escalation of tensions” and a diplomatic resolution.

The Financial Times reports that China is continuing to purchase Iranian oil despite US sanctions, providing what Tehran hopes will be a financial lifeline for the country’s economy. Although Beijing customs data show crude purchases from Iran are down month-on-month, China is still importing Tehran’s oil despite US measures designed to cut exports to “zero”. Last week the Chinese received their first delivery of an Iranian oil cargo since the Trump administration in May scrapped exemptions on Iranian sanctions.

Reuters reports that the US and Turkey appeared to make no progress during talks at NATO headquarters on Wednesday toward resolving a major dispute over Ankara’s plans to acquire a Russia’s S-400 air defences, just ahead of its expected July delivery. Acting US Defence Secretary Mark Esper warned his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, during closed-door talks on Wednesday that Turkish acquisition would have an ‘economic impact’. Reuters reports that Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Donald Trump may visit Turkey in July. Asked if he thinks he can persuade Trump not to impose sanctions on Turkey, Erdogan said: “I believe my meeting with US President Trump during the G-20 summit will be important for eliminating the deadlock in our bilateral relations and strengthening our cooperation’.

Reuters reports that Israel is experiencing unexplained GPS disruptions in its airspace but measures are in place to allow safe landings and takeoffs at its main international airport. The announcement by the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) followed a report on Tuesday by the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) that “many” pilots had lost satellite signals from the Global Positioning System around Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport.

The Times presents an overview of the ‘Peace to Prosperity’ workshop including its purpose, why the Palestinian leadership has boycotted the conference and what the political component of the plan will look like.

In the Guardian, Martin Chulov argues that the economic component of the Trump administration’s Israeli-Palestine peace accord represents “a failed clearance sale”: White House senior adviser Jared Kushner ‘arrived in Bahrain touting bedrock principles at untenable discounts. And even then there were no buyers’.

In the Financial Times, Mehul Srivastava argues that the Bahrain workshop ‘sidesteps [the] Middle East’s toughest issues’.

In the Israeli media, Yediot Ahronot reports a Likud official admitting that the proposal to cancel the September election is a trial balloon aimed at enticing the Blue and White party into a national unity government. The paper also quotes the leader of Blue and White, Benny Gantz, saying: “Netanyahu pushed the button to disband the Knesset, there is no way back.” A senior right-wing official told Maariv that the move has no real chance of being realised, and that its goal is to place the responsibility for the new elections on Blue and White. The source said: “This is a fantasy, there is no programming, neither political nor legal, for the move led by the Knesset speaker to cancel the elections, and the attorney general and the Knesset legal advisor have already made it clear that at least 80 Knesset members are required to cancel elections.”

All the papers focus heavily on Ehud Barak’s return to politics. Israel Hayom’s headline quotes an unnamed sourced saying that Barak was the “biggest failure of a prime minister in history”. Commenting in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea writes: “Ehud Barak believes that his entry into the election campaign will force Blue and White to change the way it criticises Netanyahu. Benny Gantz will have to get his hands dirty in the race against Netanyahu and the Likud, he will have to look hungrier for victory and show less respect for Netanyahu … Barak also believes that he can shift some votes from the right-wing bloc to the centre-left bloc.” About Barak’s chances, he says: “Barak is a determined, emphatic and confident man. His political career is a pendulum that runs the gamut from impressive decisions to big mistakes, from alliances to betrayals … he has leadership ability and decision-making skills … but he also carries a fairly large hump on his back from his past terms as prime minister, as defence minister and as Labour Party leader. The split that he forced on the Labour Party saved Netanyahu and delivered a mortal blow to the party, and there are voters who refuse to forget this. He has enemies in abundance — nobody will go easy on him in these elections.”

In Maariv, Ben Caspit writes: “As strange as it sounds, and even though he is not perceived as a top candidate, Barak is the only one who manages to undermine Netanyahu’s self-confidence. He wants to be remembered not only as the one who withdrew from Lebanon and broke up the Labour Party, but also as the one who put an end to the Netanyahu era. We have reached the catch-22 of Israeli politics: in order to beat Netanyahu, you have to be Netanyahu: a narcissistic, uninhibited, vicious, cynical, cutthroat liar who will do anything, absolutely anything, to win. Lucky for us, there are only two such models in stock: Netanyahu himself and his former commander in Sayeret Matkal, Ehud Barak.”

Anshel Pfeffer writes in Haaretz that Barak: “Claims he wants to ‘topple the Netanyahu regime’ and ‘serve as an infrastructure for new connections.’ What does that mean? Is he planning to link up with Labour and Blue and White in a mega-centrist party? Will that even help bring Netanyahu down? And what does Barak want for himself? To be prime minister? Would he serve under someone else as defence minister? At 77, now on his second comeback to politics, there is no point in even wondering whether Barak has changed. In fact, perhaps he may find himself serving under his old soldier Netanyahu again … Barak brings with him one major asset. He is seen by the Israeli public as a leader of equal stature to Netanyahu. He beat him in 1999 and was his closest political partner from 2009 to 2013 as defence minister. He won’t be distracted by any of the spins and smears that so badly disorientated Gantz in the last election campaign. As a figurehead, or chief spokesperson for the opposition, he could be effective. But he has a track-record of wrecking parties and his re-entrance to the fray could cause chaos in the opposition. If he indeed joins Labour, he would take voters away from Blue and White, perhaps ensuring Likud remains the biggest party. He could also force Blue and White to move further to the right, in order to differentiate themselves from Labour-Barak, and that may lure some Likud voters, boosting the centre-left bloc. The biggest concern with Barak is that like in the past, he will transform overnight from Netanyahu’s political foe to old comrade-in-arms. If Netanyahu somehow wins the election, and offers him to become defence minister again in return for ensuring his political survival, Barak may prove incapable of resisting.”

Haaretz and Yediot Ahronot report that Israel has been experiencing unexplained GPS disruptions in its airspace in the past month, but “measures are in place to allow safe landings and takeoffs” at its main international airport. It is suspected that Russia is responsible. Israeli security officials believe the interference is part of Moscow’s attempts to protect its planes in northwest Syria.  According to the security establishment’s assessment, the disruptions are the result of electronic warfare on behalf of the Russian military to defend its assets at Khmeimim Air Base. The Russian ambassador to Israeli told Army Radio this morning that the reports are “fake news,” and “can’t be taken seriously”.

Channel 12 News reports that the President of Chile has apologised to President Reuven Rivlin for visiting the Temple Mount accompanied by senior Palestinian officials.