The BBC, Guardian, The Times, and Sky News report on our main story on the killing of the terrorists responsible for the deaths of Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee. Rabbi Leo Dee, the father and husband of victims, said he was “tremendously comforted” by the news the men had been “eliminated”. He told Sky News: “Everybody in the Western world can effectively sleep safe in their beds tonight… the Israeli army has done a tremendous kindness to the world by taking out two people who could go and bomb New York, London, Paris, Tel Aviv and kill many more innocent civilians.”

The Daily Mail features the emotional meeting of two of Lucy Dee’s surviving children, Keren, 19, and Tali, 17, with Lital Valenci, a longtime sufferer of heart failure who received Lucy Dee’s donated heart. “I was so moved when I learned who I was receiving a heart from, as I had read about Lucy Dee and what an incredible woman she was, with an exemplary family,” said Valenci.

The Times reports regional sources saying that “Iran is trying to forge a defence pact, drawing together militant organisations across the Middle East to co-ordinate rocket launches against Israel.” The sources suggest that the plan is to unify the efforts of Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and other Iranian-backed terror organisations. Hamas is said to oppose the unification at this stage. The paper quotes Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant saying “We are facing a new security era in which real threats are possible from all fronts at once. We have operated for years under the assumption that conflicts on one front can be held, but this is a phenomenon that is fading away.”

The Independent covers yesterday’s protests: “Protest leaders have billed Thursday’s event a call for ‘equality,’ expanding their criticism to the rising cost of living in Israel and the military draft exemptions granted to most ultra-Orthodox Jews. Protesters dyed white a pool of water in the square of Israel’s national theatre in Tel Aviv, to symbolise a recent milk price hike.”

Reuters features an exclusive report claiming that Israeli authorities have seized 190 crypto accounts at the Binance crypto exchange since 2021. Two accounts were said to be linked to Islamic State and dozens of others to Palestinian firms connected with Hamas.

Away from our main story, the Israeli media focusses heavily on the clash between Prime Minister Netanyahu and National Security Minister Ben Gvir. Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power faction has boycotted coalition votes in protest against what it argues was a weak response to last week’s rocket fire from Gaza, and Ben Gvir’s exclusion from the situational assessment meeting: the terms of Ben Gvir’s National Security brief would be expected to have seen him attend. Despite Ben Gvir’s threats to further disrupt the working of the government, Yediot Ahronot’s Sima Kadmon writes: “Here’s a recommendation from the prime minister that… Ben Gvir does not plan to adopt: he has no intention of resigning from the cabinet. And here’s a suggestion that… Netanyahu does not plan to implement: he has no intention of firing Ben Gvir from his cabinet.” Facing acute challenges on a number of fronts, including the attempted passage of a new draft law providing for ultra-Orthodox exemption from the draft, Kadmon contends that Netanyahu “is sick” of Ben Gvir’s posturing. “Ben Gvir manufactures a PR problem every time there is friction, mocking the abilities of the fully right-wing government that is proving itself to be a total failure. Netanyahu is also familiar with the polls that show that more than 70 percent [of respondents] think that the government has failed on security matters.”

On the same topic, Israel Hayom’s Amir Ettinger writes “The Likud realises that just as it is chained to Ben Gvir, so he is chained to them. Netanyahu’s pounding on the tables shows that he believes that Ben Gvir doesn’t have a better hand than he does, since Ben Gvir does not want elections either, and therefore he can delegitimize Ben Gvir’s threats in an attempt to put a stop to them. On the other hand, Ben Gvir can also assume that Netanyahu does not want elections and that without his votes, Netanyahu has no government. This leaves us with the question: who will blink first?”

Maariv covers the ongoing compromise talks on judicial reform, and on Yesh Atid’s eagerness to proceed to the issue which most divides the government from the opposition: the composition of the Judges Selection Committee. “If the Likud is serious and truly wants to reach agreements… it has to agree to address the heart of the dispute,” Yesh Atid delegates said. Amid the uncertainty over the future of Ben Gvir’s faction in the government, and with reports of the compromise talks proceeding well, there has been speculation that Benny Gantz’s National Unity party could join the coalition at the expense of Jewish Power. National Unity MK Zeev Elkin told the paper, however, that “It is unfeasible for us to join the current government. It is preoccupied with matters of no value. Instead of working, it mainly talks and makes unsubstantiated announcements.” Yesh Atid and National Unity sources told Israel Hayom, meanwhile, that “The coming month will be decisive… If the coalition had conceded the matter of the Judges Selection Committee, we would have reached agreements.”

Haaretz details another day of heavy anti-government protest yesterday. Amid disruption in Tel Aviv as well as several locations in Central Israel – including Herzliya, Ra’anana and Ramat Gan – both pro and anti-government protesters later converged on the home of former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak. Barak made news when commenting recently that that he had not found a judge of Moroccan ancestry who could be nominated to serve on the Supreme Court during his tenure. Judge diversity has been a central justification for judicial reform, with advocates arguing that the court system remains dominated by Ashkenazim.

Ynet covers the preliminary report into failures in the Iron Dome Defence system which saw rockets breach the system and penetrate Southern Israel this week, causing injuries to Chinese workers. An Israel Air Force spokesman acknowledged a technical fault which saw only six out of ten rockets that did not fall in open areas in the initial salvo intercepted, but assured Israelis that the fault was immediately rectified and that, overall, the combined barrage still saw Iron Dome achieve a 90.5 percent interception rate.

Kan Radio focusses on US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s comments yesterday on the US’s eagerness to foster full normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “Ultimately getting to full normalisation is a declared national security interest of the United States,” said Sullivan. “We have been clear about that. Now as a sign of my seriousness about how much we’re focused on this, and how seriously we are taking this, I am not going to say anything further lest I upset the efforts we are undertaking on this issue.” Sullivan, speaking in the wake of his conversation with both Netanyahu and Israeli National Security Council Director Tzahi Hanegbi on Wednesday, also referred to Iran in his comments: the US “will take the necessary action to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon,” he said. “We will continue to send a clear message about the costs and consequences of going too far, while at the same time continuing to seek the possibility of a diplomatically brokered outcome that puts Iran’s nuclear program back into a box.” He also downplayed reports of tensions between the Biden administration and Netanyahu, though did not indicate when Netanyahu could expect to receive an invitation to visit the White House. Maariv’s Ben Caspit, meanwhile, takes Netanyahu to task for not allowing Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to visit Washington himself to undertake security discussions.

Yediot Ahronot covers Gallant’s official visit to Greece yesterday, where he was hosted by his Greek counterpart Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos. Speaking on the Iranian threat Gallant said: “Make no mistake – Iran will not be satisfied by a single nuclear bomb… so far, Iran has gained material enriched to 20 percent and 60 percent for five nuclear bombs.”

On a related topic Ynet reports Netanyahu telling a visiting bipartisan Congressional delegation this week that “Iran is 50 North Koreas; it is not merely a neighbourhood bully like the dynasty that rules North Korea… This is an ideological force that views us, Israel, as a small Satan, and views you as the great Satan.” Ynet also details how warming Israeli-Saudi ties have seen Jews made more welcome in the Kingdom, leading to the opening of a Chabad centre.