Sky News, The Times and Reuters report on our main story, that dozens of Israeli air force reservists will refuse to turn up to training drills in protest over controversial plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s legal system.

Reuters reports that tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth straight week on Saturday to fight a government plan to overhaul the country’s court system. Saturday night’s demonstrations in Tel Aviv and other locations began peacefully. However, footage released by police later showed protesters breaking down barriers in Tel Aviv and igniting fires as they blocked roads. Police sprayed water cannons at the protesters.

Reuters reports that Israel hosted the top US military officer, Army General Mark Milley, on Friday for discussions that it said included the need for cooperation on denying Iran nuclear weaponry. Milley made the previously unannounced visit ahead of a trip to Israel by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that will also include neighbouring Egypt and Jordan – US-aligned Arab states that have influence on Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

The Times publishes an interview with Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotoveley. “Last week, Tzipi Hotovely, 44, the first woman to be chosen for the role, pointed to a photograph of one of her predecessors, Schlomo Argov, to illustrate the level of danger she faces daily. “He was killed just for being an Israeli diplomat,” she said. “This embassy and its ambassadors have suffered four terror attacks.” Argov was shot in the head outside the Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair in 1982 by Iraqi-backed Palestinian terrorists. He died from his injuries 21 years later. “We are in the front line,” said Hotovely, an Orthodox Jew and a former Israeli government minister. “Whenever I’m outside of Israel, I’m always less safe. I get the level of protection that the highest officials in your country get. Over here, I’m a target.”

The Guardian publishes an opinion piece by Dahlia Scheindlin, saying “Israel’s right wing is no stranger to political victory. Rightwing parties have governed for the better part of more than four decades and each time Benjamin Netanyahu has won an election since 2009, euphoric supporters have cheered King Bibi, while losers have gloomily prophesied the end of democracy. But Netanyahu’s sixth government, formed in the final days of 2022, is alarmingly different.”

The Guardian reports that Simon Schama, historian and TV presenter, has called on British Jews to speak out over the “complete disintegration of the political and social compact” underpinning the state of Israel. His call comes amid mounting disquiet among Jews in the UK and the US at the threats to Israeli democracy, violent attacks on Palestinians and a police crackdown on Israeli protesters.

The Economist publishes a piece on the origin of grapes, saying: “The analysis also showed that around 11,000 years ago, a strain of Syl-e1 was cultivated somewhere near modern-day Israel that would become the ancestor of almost all today’s varieties. As well as spreading southward to north Africa and thence as far west as Morocco, it was also carried north to Anatolia, where, within the space of 500 years, it gave rise to a new family. The next big evolutionary milestone would come 8,000 years later, when new strains appeared in the Balkans and then, in quick succession, Iberia and modern-day France.”

In his column in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea says that “There are three issues that ought to be keeping [Netanyahu] up at night. The first is the revolt of the reservists; the second is the economic repercussions of the anti-democratic revolution; and the third is the cracks in Israel’s alliance with the United States. All three are connected to one another and impact one another.” “The hundreds of reservist pilots who have joined the protests have been called anarchists and terrorists by government mouthpieces,” he continues. “They could bear the sense of insult, but they couldn’t help but wonder on behalf of whom they were risking their own lives once a week. The security cabinet is filled with ministers who never served, take no interest in state security and who make reckless statements, and then they curse and denigrate them [the pilots].” On relations with the US, Barnea argues that “Israel’s strength in the United States is based on three pillars: shared values, shared interests and the political strength wielded by the Jewish community and the evangelicals. The regime revolution has sabotaged all three.”

In a Maariv column deeply critical of Netanyahu and his family, Ben Caspit writes that “The thing that illustrates Israel’s situation better than anything else is the fact that despite the anarchy, the chaos and the deep economic, security, constitutional and social crisis that the country is in, despite this vortex, some things have remained stable: a bill was passed yesterday that legalizes donations from the public or from benefactors to elected officials and to their families in order to cover the costs of legal defence or medical treatments. Call it the ‘Milikowsky bill.’ It is designed to retroactively whitewash the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Netanyahu received from his late cousin, after the High Court of Justice repeatedly ruled that he must return the money.”

Kan Radio reports that National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has ignored traditional protocol and called on police to demolish illegally-built houses in East Jerusalem during Ramadan. Demolitions are generally avoided during the holy month, but Ben Gvir is said to be adamant that they proceed this year. Army Radio reveals that security forces took measurements of the Aqbat Jabr home of the terrorist who last week murdered Elan Ganeles, ahead of its possible demolition. IDF, GSS and Border Police troops also conducted operations last night and arrested fourteen wanted men across the West Bank and confiscated weapons.

Kan Radio also reports that according to material presented to the National Security Committee headed by Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power colleague Zvika Foghel, police have trained volunteers from the mixed city of Lod to serve as special on-call security teams during Ramadan, in the event of disturbances breaking out. Other mixed cities will see similar contingencies. It also reports that a closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip will be imposed from 5.00 pm today until midnight Wednesday for Purim. 150,000 West Bank workers and 17,000 Gazans will not be permitted to enter Israel during this period, amid the escalation in security tensions.

Ynet covers US concerns over the Israeli government and the current security escalation with the Palestinians. Speaking ahead of a visit to the region by US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, a senior US official said that Austin “will also be quite frank with Israeli leaders about his concerns regarding the cycle of violence in the West Bank and consult on what steps Israeli leaders can take to meaningfully restore calm before the upcoming holidays.” Ynet also cites multiple sources in both the US and Israel suggesting that the Biden administration is still considering denying entry to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who plans to visit the country to address a meeting of Israel Bonds next Sunday. Officials are angry over Smotrich’s recent call to “wipe out” the village of Huwara and are said to be unconvinced by his explanation for the remarks. Ned Price, the State Department spokesman said Smotrich’s statement was “disgusting” and “incitement to violence,” while liberal Jewish groups in the US are planning to protest his appearance with Israel Bonds.

Kan Radio also covers news that European states are drafting a joint statement in condemnation of the planned death penalty for terrorists bill. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was publicly critical of the plans recently, and the EU stands opposed to the death penalty.

Haaretz covers remarks from former British Prime Minister and former envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East Tony Blair, at a conference hosted by the paper and UCLA yesterday. While welcoming the raft of peace and normalisation deals secured with regional states, Blair warned: “Sometimes I think there’s a feeling in parts of Israeli politics that maybe the region has just given up on the Palestinian issue. It hasn’t. It still considers it important. It wants, frankly, a more capable Palestinian politics to work with. But it’s still very much aligned with that Palestinian cause.”

Haaretz  also prints remarks from the same event from Ukrainian ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk. Korniychuk was both critical of what he argued was a lack of Israel support for Ukraine and keen to stress the common interests shared by the two countries. “Unfortunately, we haven’t seen lots of deliverables except for the humanitarian aid on the ground,” he said. “I keep saying that we are grateful for humanitarian aid. But you cannot win the war with bandages and antibiotics.” Brandishing part of an Iranian Shahed drone used by Russia as evidence, he also said “We are the champions in terms of the shooting down of Iranian drones. We have a joint enemy, which means that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. That’s how I will attract the attention of the Israeli government.”