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Media Summary

UAE intercept two ballistic missile over its capital in second Houthi attack

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The BBC, Telegraph, Independent and The Times report that intense fighting has erupted in north-eastern Syria after Islamic State (ISIS) fighters broke inmates out of a Kurdish-run prison. Kurdish-led forces backed by US airstrikes have been battling militants in the city of Hasaka since Thursday. The Syrian Observatory says “at least 84 ISIS members and 45 Kurdish fighters, including internal security forces, prison guards and counter-terrorism forces, have been killed” because of the violence. Hundreds of jihadists have been recaptured since the breakout, but some are still on the run.  Kurdish security forces have surrounded the prison and are fighting for control of nearby neighbourhoods.

The Guardian and Reuters reports that the United Arab Emirates intercepted two ballistic missiles claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the skies of Abu Dhabi early on Monday, the second attack in a week that targeted the Emirati capital. The missile fire further escalates tensions across the Persian Gulf, where there has been a series of assaults near but never indisputably on – Emirati soil amid Yemen’s years-long war and the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

The Financial Times the US is holding talks with Qatar and other large gas exporters to plan contingency measures in case a Russian invasion of Ukraine disrupts supplies to Europe. The talks with Qatar and EU member states, focused on securing additional seaborne liquefied natural gas cargoes, have gained urgency after high-level security negotiations between Washington and Moscow so far have yielded minimal progress.

Robert Malley, the lead US nuclear negotiator, has told Reuters that the US is unlikely to strike an agreement with Iran to return to the JCPOA nuclear deal unless Tehran releases four US citizens Washington says it is holding hostage.

In the Israeli media, the main story this morning is the decision by the cabinet yesterday to form a state commission of inquiry into the so-called “submarines and naval vessels affair”. All of the cabinet ministers voted in favour with the exception of Yamina’s Ayelet Shaked, who voted against, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who chose to abstain. The commission will have five members and will investigate the political decision-making process from 2017 in purchasing submarines and naval vessels from the German ThyssenKrupp corporation. The commission will also address the existing procedures relating to decision-making by the political echelon. However, the inquiry will not investigate the actions of people who have since been charged with criminal offences and will publish neither conclusions nor recommendations regarding them. Defence Minister Benny Gantz said after the vote: “We promised and we kept our promise. The cabinet approved my motion to form a state commission of inquiry to investigate the purchase of the submarines and the naval vessels. The commission’s establishment is a security need of the first order, and it sends a clear message that you can’t play with Israel’s security.”

In Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea provides the bottom line to the cabinet’s decision: “The decision to form a commission of inquiry into the submarines and naval vessels affair is justified; the expectations from it are excessive.” Barnea explains: “The Israeli prime minister enjoys extensive powers, but he cannot act as if the country were his own private business. The commission of inquiry will ask: by what authority did he [Netanyahu] decide to empower the National Security Council to oversee the execution of the deal.”

Also in Yediot Ahronot, Sima Kadmon writes: “No other affair has as heavy an ethical and personal cloud hanging over it as the submarine affair. Forming a state commission of inquiry to investigate one of the most important strategic affairs ever to unfold was not an option, it was essential. The moment that the necessary trust between the public and its leaders is broken when it comes to decisions of security and state — that cannot be either forgiven or forgotten. A state commission of inquiry was inevitable because its results will likely prove — or refute — allegations of corruption bordering on treason. But we can also be sceptical that the commission — regardless of who heads it — will publish in-depth conclusions. Ostensibly, the corruption was so deep and pervasive that it’s hard to see who might dare to shed light on that. The commission may learn the truth but is unlikely to publish all its findings. The excuse will be: damage to national security.”

However, Matti Tuchfeld argues in Israel Hayom that the decision to open a commission of inquiry is setting a “terrible precedent” in which governments are now starting to investigate decisions made by previous ones. “It is fairly obvious that the next government will do the same thing to its predecessor, and so on and so forth. Yesterday’s decision strengthens the sense that the members of the current coalition are less bent on governing than they are on going on a vengeance spree.”

Israel Hayom reports on the potential ramifications in the Likud were Netanyahu to sign a plea bargain to end his corruption trial. Miri Regev, who wants to run for the Likud leadership in the future, yesterday attacked Yisrael Katz in response to a letter Katz wrote to members of the Likud, in which he said: “If and when Netanyahu does decide to leave, I will deeply regret the circumstances that led to that. Afterwards, I will act in keeping with the Likud constitution to be elected by our Likud Central Committee as the party’s temporary chairman, and to quickly form a government headed by the Likud in the current Knesset. In that context, I won’t make any promises for reserved slots in the Likud, following a resolution that I worked to have passed by the Likud Secretariat, despite the objections of certain [party] members, not to allow anyone who either left the party or acted against it to run on the Likud’s ticket for eight years. I intend to submit any coalition agreement that is signed to the Likud Central Committee for approval.”

Kan Radio reports that health-care experts believe herd immunity will be achieved in Israel against the Omicron variant within about three weeks, at which point the number of people who have recovered will reach roughly four million. The peak of infection from Omicron is expected later this week. The number of people testing positive daily is expected to stabilize next week, after which a gradual decline will ensue over the course of several weeks. The number of people hospitalised in serious condition has risen to 780. Meanwhile, initial analysis conducted by Health Ministry scientists together with scientists from the Weizmann Institute, the Technion, Hebrew University and the Gertner Institute shows that people aged 60 and over who received four vaccine doses are protected three times more protected from serious illness relative to people who only received three vaccine doses, with the third given four or more months ago.

Yediot Ahronot reports that the IDF will conclude its investigation this week into the death of dual US-Palestinian citizen Omar Assad ten days ago. Assad was detained by Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion at a temporary roadblock in the middle of night and was handcuffed for several hours in the freezing cold in an abandoned house on the side of the road. He was subsequently found dead. The IDF Central Command is expected to issue a public and possibly incisive statement in the next number of days in response to the incident in which Assad died. The operational inquiry by the Judea and Samaria Division and the Central Command, which was suspended in response to the decision to begin a criminal investigation, will be resumed and completed next week, at which point disciplinary measures may be taken against military personnel in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.