The Jewish Chronicle reports that UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has revealed the British government will oppose all UN Human Rights Council (HRC) items devoted to discussing rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza due to their “disproportionate and discriminatory” focus on Israel. Writing exclusively for the JC, Hunt said the so-called Item 7 resolutions devoted solely to condemning Israel – heard at every session of the HRC – “undermine the credibility of the world’s leading human rights forum”. He added that Britain would begin by voting against all four Item 7 texts put forward for the 40th session of the 47 member council in Geneva on Friday. Hunt writes: “Item 7 strengthens the hard and trampled road of self-righteousness, a narrative that one side alone holds a monopoly of fault.” He continues by saying: “Two years ago, the United Kingdom said that unless the situation changed, we would vote against all texts proposed under Item 7.” The Foreign Secretary adds:  “Sadly, our concerns have not been heeded. So I have decided that we will do exactly what we said: Britain will now oppose every Item 7 resolution. On Friday we will vote against all four texts proposed in this way.”

The Daily Mail, the Jewish News and the Sun report on the release of a new report on antisemitism in the UK Labour Party, by the Editor of Fathom Journal, Professor Alan Johnson. The Daily Mail writes that the new report says that the Labour Party, under Jeremy Corbyn is institutionally anti-Semitic. It found the leadership has failed to prevent the party hosting hatred of Jews or to weed out a deep-rooted culture of anti-Semitism denial. Interference by the leadership in disciplinary cases also shows Labour has failed to tackle its problem with racial hatred against Jews, the study said.

The BBC reports that two Palestinian men have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said explosive devices were hurled from a car at troops guarding Jewish worshippers at Joseph’s Tomb in the city of Nablus. The troops opened fire, killing two assailants, it added. In a separate incident near Ramallah, a Palestinian allegedly behind an attack that left two Israelis dead was killed in a firefight with Israeli forces. Omar Amin Abu Lila, 19, was reported to have shot towards troops, who responded by firing four anti-tank missiles at the building in which he was hiding. The Israeli military had accused him of stabbing to death a 19-year-old Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt Gal Keidan, and using his rifle to shoot dead Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, a 47-year-old father of 12, near the Jewish settlement of Ariel on Sunday.

In the Independent, Bel Trew reports in the fourth part of her Water Wars series, arguing that Jordan, one of the world’s driest countries, is in desperate need of water. If they do not get it, she writes, the region’s security and vital peace deals will be on the line.

The Times reports that King Salman of Saudi Arabia has shown support for his crown prince by ordering a main road in the capital to be named after him. Mohammed bin Salman Street will cross Riyadh from west to east. More importantly, its renaming is a sign that the prince, 33, has not been ostracised despite reports that he had been stripped of some of his powers since the journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul last year. The honour may be double-edged, however. The king, 83, also announced that MBS, as the crown prince is widely known, will be put in charge of a committee to oversee the development of a massive park, sports and arts complex in Riyadh. The project, which has a budget of 86 billion riyals (£17 billion), is fully in keeping with MBS’s reputation as the man bringing youth culture to Saudi Arabia’s conservative and gerontocratic society. The development is a clear attempt by the royal family to reinvigorate its support in the capital. Riyadh is prosperous, but it is also a sprawling, dusty mass of motorways, drab high-rise office blocks and fast-food outlets, with few leisure pursuits and no green space.

The Financial Times reports that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are looking to fill a vacuum in the energy sector created by western companies that pulled out of the Islamic republic following the reimposition of US sanctions. Saeed Mohammad, head of Khatam-ul-Anbia, the construction arm of the elite force, said that his organisation was ready to replace Total, the French company, in the development of phase 11 of the South Pars gasfield, the republic’s flagship hydrocarbons project. “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stands by the dedicated government against this fierce economic war and is in the frontline of [foiling] economic conspiracies of the [US],” he said in a speech at the launch of new projects at South Pars this week.

The Independent reports that after a 10-year battle for justice, Iraqi victims will see a private military contractor stand trial for its part in the torture scandal at Abu Ghraib. The company, CACI Premier Technology, was contracted by the Pentagon to provide interrogators for the jail. To this day, it still has contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars with the US Department of Defence. The firm has fought to stop the case from being heard for more than 10 years, according to lawyers involved in the case. But now, the detainees will have their day in court. A ruling last month by a federal judge means that CACI will face trial for the first time for its alleged role in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. The case alleges torture, war crimes and inhumane treatment under international law.

The Times reports that Egypt’s President Sisi has convened a meeting of his supporters to debate changes to the constitution that are widely expected to let him stay in power until 2034. While most opposition figures have been jailed, critics of Mr Sisi who remain free were not invited to the first of six discussion sessions at the country’s parliament, which has been controlled by the former head of the armed forces since he seized power in 2013. The 720 participants at the meeting were drawn from the legal profession, academia, community leaders and journalists. They are all known to be supporters of the regime. Those attending were handpicked by government agencies and the parliament. A request submitted by 155 MPs to amend the constitution was overwhelmingly backed in principle by the parliament last month. While the proposed changes will be the subject of a referendum in the next few months, they are expected to be approved.

The BBC reports that the bestselling author Alaa Al Aswany has said he is being sued by military prosecutors in Egypt for insulting the president, armed forces and judiciary. Aswany, who lives in the US, said the lawsuit was connected to his last novel – The Republic, As If – and columns he had written for Deutsche Welle Arabic. He condemned the case as a “clear violation” of Egypt’s constitution. Aswany’s acclaimed 2002 novel, The Yacoubian Building, has sold more than a million copies in 35 languages. Through the prism of a historic building in downtown Cairo, it explored corruption and social problems in Egypt under then President Hosni Mubarak. The Republic, As If – which was published last year but is banned in Egypt – is set during the events of the popular uprising in 2011 that forced Mubarak to resign. It criticises Egypt’s state institutions, parliament, constitution and courts.

In an editorial, the Independent argues: “The desperate leaders of ISIS remind us how retribution must always give way to the sane pursuit of justice”. The newspaper writes that: “Islam is a peaceful religion and remains defiantly so in spite of efforts to pervert it by the likes of Isis, or any other death cult for that matter – most of whose victims are other Muslims”. The piece concludes that soon, the Islamic State will lose the last piece of its once vast caliphate, and become once again a disparate guerrilla force. It will still be dangerous, ruthless and determined. But it can be pursued and brought to justice, not by barrel bombs but by the usual, quieter and more delicate arts of the security services.

The Financial Times reports that in Turkey, neglected Ankara residents threaten to snub Erdogan in the upcoming mayoral election. The Turkish president is widely believed to view the 96-year-old capital as a symbol of a secular republican project that severed links with a glorious Ottoman past. But the city is threatening to get its own back by delivering a painful electoral blow. With less than two weeks until critical local elections, a series of polls have put the opposition candidate for the Ankara mayorship in the lead. “It will be a close race up to the end,” said Ibrahim Uslu, head of the Anar polling company. “It will be a photo finish.”

In the Financial Times, Roula Khalaf writes: “Dubai’s message to its people: Be tolerant or else”, arguing the Gulf emirate remains deeply suspicious of political Islam. Khalaf reports that if you drive through the city’s boulevards, you’ll see of billboards celebrating the “year of tolerance”; you might even spot “Tolerance Bridge”. Talk to residents and you will learn that school children are assigned tolerance projects and artists are encouraged to produce works. The salutations run across the seven city states of United Arab Emirates, the federation that declared 2019 the year of tolerance. Guiding the initiative are a ministry of tolerance, a national tolerance programme and a national council for tolerance.

Maariv and Haaretz report comments by senior legal officials that Prime Minister Netanyahu should be questioned about the shares he owned in a company that provided raw material to the German ThyssenKrupp corporation. Kan Radio reported this morning that the Justice Ministry is looking into the possibility of launching an inquiry and a criminal investigation into the matter. Such a decision will allow the law enforcement agencies to seize material and question witnesses. The Likud issued a statement saying that 20 days before the elections, there was a leak about another attempt to launch an investigation into the prime minister but that only Israel’s citizens would decide.

Haaretz reports that Malaysia has become a hub for Iranian activity. Western intelligence analysts have noted extensive and growing activity by Iran in Malaysia, and that Iran has been shifting more activity to Malaysia from African countries. “Iran has very significant infrastructure in Malaysia,” says one Israeli official. “It has religious infrastructure there that is trying to promote Shi’ite Islam. There’s a very dangerous convergence there between Palestinian students and Iranian know how.” “Malaysia is the meeting point between various terrorist organizations and the Iranians…Malaysia is a convenient place for communication, organisation and training for various terror groups and states hostile to Israel. It’s a place where they share technologies and plot operations.”

Israel Hayom reports Netanyahu’s comments yesterday that Blue/White leader Benny Gantz should reveal what is on his phone. Netanyahu delivered a special statement from the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, in which he said: “Gantz and Lapid have continued their desperate attempt to cast Israel as failed and without achievements. The public is smart and the public knows the truth about our tremendous successes. In the past few days Lapid and Gantz’s despair has led them to a new low. They are forcibly trying to resuscitate an affair that was examined in full, all of the information, and about which it was unequivocally established that my decisions were impeccable and that all of them were made for the sake of Israel’s security.”

Zvi Barel in Haaretz writes that President Putin held a working meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Shoigu – and according to reports from both Russia and Syria, Putin instructed them to begin withdrawing Russian forces from Syria and to begin the Air Force deployment at the Khmeimim air base in north west Syria. Barel argues that: “The one who should be worried about the expected Russian withdrawal is Israel, which sees in Russia the most important guarantor for stopping Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, especially along the border on the Golan Heights”, although Barel adds that Russia is yet to keep its promise on this issue. He notes that: “Israel hopes that the removal of Russian forces will provide Moscow with more leverage over Iran to demand it withdraw its forces – but Tehran has yet to show any sign that it intends on adopting the Russian move.”

Israel Hayom also headlines comments by Central Elections Committee chair, Supreme Court Judge Hanan Melcer that he couldn’t remember such a turbulent election campaign the last 20 years.

Two polls published yesterday show Gantz and Netanyahu almost neck and neck in favourability for who is better suited to be Prime Minister. A poll by Mako finds that Netanyahu is preferred as Prime Minister by 36% and Gantz 34% while a poll by Channel 13 news said 42% preferred Benny Gantz compared to 41% for Netanyahu.

The Mako poll found Blue/White leading with 32 seats, followed by Likud on 27 and Labour on 10. It gives the right wing / ultra-Orthodox bloc 62 seats. The Channel 13 news found Blue/White leading with 31 seats ahead of Likud on 29 and Labour on 9. According to that poll, the right-wing bloc, including Zehut, has 64 seats versus the 56 seats that are held by the center-left bloc, including the Arab parties, which are not certain to recommend that Gantz be tasked with forming the next government.

Yedioth Ahronoth reports that Mickey Ganor, the state’s witness in Case 3,000, who was placed under arrest following his decision to retract some of his sworn statements to the police. Ganor is quoted as saying: “I decided that I couldn’t lie to myself. I won’t give false testimony on the witness stand and I won’t say that others received bribes. I realize that there’s no way back. I’m willing to pay the price, I’ll fight to the end. I’m not prepared to die being called a traitor. It’s important to me that my family know that I didn’t sell Israel’s security out of avarice.”