Reuters reports that France and its Western allies plan to lodge a protest with the UN’s nuclear watchdog to criticise Iran’s decision to curb cooperation with the agency, the French foreign minister said on Tuesday. The decision came as French President told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that Tehran must make clear and immediate gestures to allow dialogue to resume on the 2015 nuclear deal.

The Telegraph follows the fallout in Israel over the Supreme Court’s decision ending an Orthodox monopoly on Jewish conversions. The paper writes that backlash from Israeli religious leaders, including key election allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, could create political complications for Netanyahu, who has no clear path to re-election without the ironclad support of religious parties.

The Financial Times reports on the growing tensions inside the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel over how to deal with the coronavirus. The paper notes that Netanyahu’s long-running alliance with the Haredi has become a political liability for him — as two of his rivals are running on a platform of denying the community a chance in a coalition.

The Guardian reports that lawyers acting for a Palestinian activist and Labour member have complained to the party over its decision to hire an alleged former Israeli intelligence officer to help run its social media strategy. Assaf Kaplan, who was hired by Labour as a social listening and organising manager, allegedly worked for Unit 8200, the cyber branch of the Israeli Defence Force, from 2009 to 2013. It is not clear what Kaplan did within the unit, which has been mired in controversy over its surveillance practices against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza.

The Times and Independent note that the dwindling Christian community in Iraq is preparing for the Pope’s visit to the Middle Eastern country. “From the northern plains of Nineveh to Iraq’s southern cities, roads and homes are being decorated, church floors scrubbed squeaky clean and blast walls painted in bright hues to welcome the Pope on Friday,” the paper says. Only an estimated quarter of the 1 million Iraqi Christians remain in the country after many fled from ISIS fighters between 2014 and 2017.

The UK government has defended its decision to slash humanitarian aid to Yemen, saying it would continue to “do its bit” to support the most vulnerable in the war-torn country, according to the BBC. The UK will give “at least” £87m this year, down from £164m in 2019-2020. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said UK support would feed 240,000 children and supply clean water for millions.

The Telegraph and Independent report that the Government’s controversial cut to the aid budget could be evaded indefinitely, a minister has suggested, as Tory MPs warned the move would have “deadly consequences”. Three former Conservative cabinet ministers on Tuesday demanded the Commons be given a formal vote on the proposal to slash aid spending from 0.7 per cent of gross national income to 0.5 per cent due to the economic fallout of the pandemic.

In The Times, Tobias Ellwood MP writes that “the West must face the inconvenient truth – we have been too risk averse in helping to resolve” the Yemen conflict. He calls on the UK to “unite with its ally across the Atlantic and stop arming the warring parties. If the US and UK act together it would put real pressure on the supply of weapons and send a clear signal from the international community that this catastrophic war cannot be allowed to continue.”

In The Financial Times, David Gardner writes that the US failure to act against Saudi Arabia over Jamal Khashoggi only adds to distrust of Washington in the region and will embolden Iran.

In the Israeli media the papers focus on the decision yesterday by the cabinet to permit all Israelis overseas to return to Israel, without requiring authorisation from the exceptions committee. Three-thousand people will be allowed to return daily after a trial period of three days in which only 1,000 people will be permitted to return. Unvaccinated Israelis will be required to quarantine at home, whereas Israelis who are registered as either being fully vaccinated or as having recovered from COVID-19 will only be required to test negative twice before being allowed to move about freely. Health Ministry officials are concerned that the re-opening could introduce new variants of the disease that are resistant to the vaccine.

Kan Radio News says that three members of the same family have been confirmed to be infected with the New York variant of the coronavirus, apparently after coming into contact with a person who had returned to Israel from New York. The Health Ministry opened an epidemiological investigation to reconstruct the movements of the three members of the family. The New York variant was discovered about three months ago and it bears similarities to the South African variant. It is not yet clear whether either strain is resistant to the coronavirus vaccine, and if so to what degree.

Maariv reports that the cabinet also ratified a plan last night to permit holding political conventions ahead of the upcoming elections on 23 March. The new regulations permit indoor gatherings of up to 300 people and open-air gatherings of up to 500 people, beginning this week. The Likud had planned to open its formal election campaign last night at the Jerusalem Convention Center with an event for dozens of activists, all within the guidelines of the Green Certificate regulations. However, the party cancelled public participation after the event was criticised by local business owners who have yet to return to work. The paper also quotes many small business in food-service industry who are concerned that Sunday’s planned re-opening of restaurants and cafes after a six-month hiatus will be temporary.

Yediot Ahronot’s medical affairs correspondent, Sarit Rosenblum, criticises the government for yesterday’s decisions, which she describes as being foolhardy and irresponsible. Rosenblum writes: “A stone thrown by a single fool into a well can’t be retrieved by even 1,000 wise men. Yesterday the Israeli government threw the entire country into the coronavirus well. Delusional — there isn’t any other word to describe the broad-scale national effort to import new mutations and to destroy the achievements that were secured by the national vaccination campaign.” Rosenblum adds: “The hastiness and irresponsibility of our government’s behaviour is leading us in a terrifying direction: the nightmare scenario” that she said would result in “thousands of deaths — if not tens of thousands — and the hospitals will be overwhelmed as they try to treat everyone who hasn’t been vaccinated yet. After a few weeks of living hell, the population will develop herd immunity and the infection rate will drop. If that is what we want — we’re on the right path.”

Maariv follows the latest developments over the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this week to recognise non-Orthodox conversions for purpose of Israeli citizenship under Law of Return. UTJ Faction Chairman MK Yitzhak Pindrus drew fiery reactions in the political arena after fiercely criticising military conversions. “Anyone who was converted in an IDF conversion is a shisksa [the Yiddish word for a non-Jewish woman]. If anyone marries her — his father must sit shiva” [i.e., mourn for his son who has married outside of the Jewish people]. Pindrus subsequently apologised after his remarks elicited angry reactions. Yamina leader Naftali Bennett said Pindrus’s remarks were “disgraceful” and “offended thousands of IDF soldiers who completed their conversion process in keeping with Halacha”. Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beiteinu and New Hope all issued similar condemnations.

Several polls were published last night and this morning. A Kan News poll shows the anti-Netanyahu camp with a 61-seat majority in the Knesset, compared to 48 for the pro-Netanyahu camp (with Yamina on 11). A Channel 13 poll had the Likud on 27, followed by Yesh Atid on 18, New Hope on 13, Yamina on 11, Arab Joint List on 8, Shas on 7, UTJ on 7, Yisrael Beiteinu on 6, Labour on 6, Meretz on 5, the Religious Zionists on 4, Blue and White on 4 and the United Arab List on 4. A Channel 12 News poll last night found that Meretz and the United Arab List would fail to cross the electoral threshold. The poll had the Likud on 28, followed by Yesh Atid on 19, New Hope on 14, Yamina on 11, Arab Joint List on 9, Shas on 8, UTJ on 6, Yisrael Beiteinu on 7, Labour on 7, the Religious Zionists on 5 and Blue and White on 5. Nevertheless, the Likud would still be unable to form a new government, even if Yamina were to agree to join.

Kan Radio News reports that Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has sent a formal letter of complaint to the UN Security Council and to the Secretary General blaming Iran for an attack on an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Persian Gulf last week. Erdan demanded that members of the Security Council denounce Iran for the attack, and added that Israel would use all means at its disposal to defend its citizens and sovereignty.