The Times, Reuters, and the BBC all feature our main story, on Israel’s use of a UAV strike to kill three members of a Palestinian terrorist cell.

The BBC and The Guardian feature another aspect of our main story, the rioting of settlers in West Bank Palestinian villages. The latter quotes Gadi Gvaryahu, head of the dovish Israeli group Tag Meir, saying the government and army bore responsibility. “Things are just repeating themselves. It was completely clear there would be revenge. The government and army are not doing the work. We are responsible for protecting the population in these areas. It’s our responsibility.”

In the context of increased West Bank violence, Reuters runs a story on the struggling leadership of Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority (PA). Recent events have further “laid bare the weakness of the PA in the face of the hundreds of Palestinian militants in flashpoint cities like Jenin and Nablus,” it writes. “A rambling speech at the United Nations last month spawned a wave of mocking TikTok memes after Abbas repeatedly appealed to the world to ‘Protect us!’ The theme was picked up on social media again this week as the PA, which exercises limited self-rule, stood by powerless while Jewish settlers attacked Palestinian towns… Abbas has defied repeated prophecies of an end to his two decades in power and refused mounting demands to go… almost 80% of Palestinians want him to resign, according to polling from the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, and with international powers including the United States calling for a resumption of peace negotiations with Israel frozen since 2014, the pressure has risen steadily.”

The Independent runs with the comments of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, made during a recent visit to the Middle East. Of the Israeli-Palestinian situation, he said, “I think the situation has worsened,” he said. “I’m just thinking that, as many people are saying, that this may constitute apartheid.” Ban was in the region under the auspices of The Elders, a group of statespeople engaged in peacemaking and human rights initiatives around the world. The group’s current chair, former Irish President Mary Robinson, said “It’s clear that now we have a one-state rule and in fact it’s worse than that under the current government.” The Elders’ delegation met with both President Herzog and leader of the opposition Yair Lapid during their visit.

All the Israeli media cover last night’s revelation on Channel 13 News that the judges in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s trial told the prosecutors that they will have a “tough time proving” that the prime minister took bribes, as alleged in Case 4000. The reported conversation has significant weight as the court has already heard testimony from all the prosecution’s witnesses. The bribery charge in Case 4,000 is considered the most serious charge Netanyahu faced overall and there have been increased calls for the Attorney General try to reach a plea bargain with the prime minister. Case 4,000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, is based on allegations that Netanyahu made regulatory decisions that financially benefited Shaul Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels. In return, Netanyahu allegedly received supportive media coverage from Walla News, also owned by Elovitch. This morning Haaretz adds, “Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is poised to hold a discussion with the attorney’s office at the end of the month about the possibility of promoting a plea deal.”

Channel 12 News includes reactions from Likud minister Galit Distel Atbaryan who said, “I want to thank Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. For the fact that he never broke when anyone else in his shoes would have crumbled. For the fact that he retained his sanity when anyone else in his shoes would have gone crazy. For the boundless patience he displayed vis-à-vis his pursuers. For his stateliness, his moderation, for the inexplicable and incomparable strength. The entire country celebrated the bribe that he never took. A thousand arrows were fired at his back every day, telling him ‘Leave, you’re corrupt,’ and he remained upright. Oceans of fury, frustration and pain no doubt roiled within him but he did not show it. He showed nothing. This trial is the most humiliating low point the State of Israel has ever known. The people who conspired against him, hounded him, and incriminated him will be held accountable, but this evening I only want to say thank you to the prime minister, Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu, father of the nation.” The channel also quotes former justice minister Gideon Saar, who left the Likud to join Gantz’s National Unity Party, Saar said, “During my tenure as justice minister, I refrained from commenting on the possibility of a plea bargain in the Netanyahu trial. I did this out of respect for the independence of the State Attorney’s Office on issues that are within the purview of their professional judgement. For a long time, my view has been that in light of a variety of considerations, the correct thing to do would be to bring the Netanyahu trial to a close with a plea bargain. Now, it would be appropriate for the prosecution to bend its ear to messages from the court and show a willingness to hold negotiations of this sort. The public interest, in the broad sense, is to bring this years-long saga to an end with a plea bargain.”

Haaretz quotes US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides saying, “We do not stand and watch settler violence. I’ve been very clear and very specific that we will not stand by, and we’re pushing the Israelis to take whatever action they need to take to stop those people. At the same time, my heart breaks for the families that lost a loved one 48 hours ago. My heart breaks for all these families.” Nides was speaking at a meeting with young Israelis and Palestinians organised by the Geneva Initiative organisation in Tel Aviv. Meanwhile Yediot Ahronot reports hundreds of settlers entered the illegal Evyatar outpost in the West Bank in the response to the terror attack by Eli earlier this week.  Young men setting up shelters, renovating houses and began to install infrastructure whilst unlike in the past, the government has not yet called for them to be removed.

Israel Hayom carries an exclusive interview with Governor Ron DeSantis, one of the Republican presidential candidates. He was asked his thoughts on Israel-US relations and the fact that Netanyahu has not yet to be invited to the White House by President Biden. DeSantis said, “I think it’s disgraceful. The US-Israel relationship should be ironclad. We have no better ally in the Middle East. And we have such strong cultural and religious ties to the State of Israel, for them to be treating Israel really with the back of their hand. I think it’s a mistake, but I think it’s part and parcel of how this administration sees the world. I mean, they’re more interested in kowtowing to Iran than standing by our allies. And so, you know, my view as president would be we’re going to have a really strong US-Israel relationship, and that’ll be something that Americans can be proud of.” Asked what he would do about Iran, DeSantis called the 2015 nuclear agreement, “a total disaster”, adding, “Biden is trying to resuscitate that and basically, when you give concessions to the Iranians, they use that money to be able to foment terrorism. They will put that money into weapons development. And so I think squeezing Iran, making sure that they understand that their pursuit of this is going to be bad for them economically, diplomatically, and potentially even militarily, that is the way the only thing that the mullahs understand – strength. You can’t try to cozy up to them. It just doesn’t work. So we would be supportive of Israel’s predicament. And obviously, we would have a much stronger posture against Iran.” Relating to the West Bank he said, “I’ve always rejected this idea that it’s occupied territory. I mean, these are some of the most historic Jewish lands going all the way back to biblical times. Yes, there was a partition plan with the UN in the 1940s. But the Arabs rejected the Partition Plan. It’d be one thing if they accepted it. Israel was willing to accept, they rejected it. And then they chose to wage war for many decades. And so it’s not occupied territory. It is disputed territory, and I think Israel’s claim is the most superior in terms of anybody else for it. I was the first major elected official as governor in 2019, to do public events in Judea and Samaria. at Ariel University, and we wanted to break the stigma that somehow this is not appropriate to be doing and when we have imposed our anti-BDS sanctions on companies that have targeted Israel, it’s usually been they’ve been targeting Jews living in Judea and Samaria. And so we said that’s unacceptable.”

Maariv  includes its latest opinion polling showing the balance between the political blocs similar to last week: Gantz’s National Unity Party receives 32 seats (12 currently), Likud: 25 (32), Yesh Atid: 17 (24), Shas: 9 (11), United Torah Judaism: 7 (7), Hadash-Ta’al: 6 (6), Yisrael Beiteinu: 6 (6), Religious Zionist Party: 5 (7), Meretz: 5 (0), Jewish Power: 4 (6), United Arab List: 4 (5). Whist the Labour Party does not make it over the threshold.  These numbers give the current coalition 50 seats, with the makeup of the last coalition receiving 64 seats, and Hadash-Ta’al on 6.