BBC News reports that Iran has agreed to resume talks over the JCPOA nuclear deal. Ali Baqeri Kani, Iran’s chief negotiator, said his country agreed to meet at the end of November. The talks had stopped after the election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in June. A spokesperson for the US State Department said a deal could be reached if Iran is “serious” about re-joining the deal.

Reuters reports that the US State Department has approved the sale of 280 air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia, marking the first major arms sale to Saudi Arabia under the Biden presidency. A State Department spokesman said the deal “is fully consistent with the administration’s pledge to lead with diplomacy to end the conflict in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has the means to defend itself from Iranian-backed Houthi air attacks”.

The Financial Times reports that Israel’s governing coalition approved the state budget, the first one passed by the country in three years. The report notes that the budget was approved despite 780 challenges from the opposition and will avert a fifth election.

The Guardian reports that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned it is close to collapse due a severe cut to its funding. The UK reduced its contribution to the organisation by more than 50 per cent this year, dropping from £42.5m in 2020 to £20.8m in 2021. The director of UNRWA was in London to meet with officials in the Foreign Office about the cuts, warning that they have “a humanitarian impact. It has a human development impact. We calculate the decrease in aid as the equivalent of more than 70,000 boys and girls in our schools”.

In Yediot Ahronot, Nadav Eyal writes about a chance encounter with the head of Egyptian Intelligence, General Abbas Kamel on the side lines of the climate conference in Glasgow. Kamel said that relations between Egypt and Israel are “perfect” and that the meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennet Bennett and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi earlier this year in Sharm el-Sheikh was very positive, with both leaders finding a common language. He said he is planning to arrive in Israel later this month to present the Egyptian rehabilitation plan for the Gaza Strip, the prisoner exchange proposals and even a long-term ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hamas. According to Kamel, all of these initiatives should be done simultaneously for them to be effective. “There is no point to do this step by step,” Kamel said. “We need one big move: free minors, women and elderly held in Israeli prisons and in return get a long-term ceasefire.” Kamel said that Egypt is working on reaching an arrangement between Israel and Hamas “day and night”, maintaining daily communications with Israeli officials and the Palestinians. In addition, the Egyptian general stressed that Israel must return to the negotiating table with the Palestinian Authority. “Start with the low-ranking officers and move up,” he said. “We need more lifting of restrictions on border crossings, more entry permits for merchants and laborers and further expansion of Gaza’s fishing zone.” He also said that Egypt is constantly trying to advance a Palestinian unity government  Regarding the Bennett-Lapid government in Israel, he said “This is a government that you can work with,” adding, “It has all kinds of sides that are pulling in completely different directions, but we would be happy if it survives.”

Maariv covers comments made by Amos Yadlin, a former head of military intelligence regarding a potential Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. He explained that although Israel has the ability to attack Iran, “the problem is not the attack itself, but the consequences.” He further claimed: “The US is preparing for a situation in which the talks will not succeed.” Yadlin was interviewed  on 103fm this morning and referred to the Iranians’ announcement that they would return to the negotiating table over their nuclear programme. He said, “The Iranians have recognised the US eagerness under the Biden administration to return to the agreement. For six rounds of talks they have set high demands that even the democratic administration could not accept. In the end it worked in their favour and now it is pressuring the Americans… The 2015 agreement is good for the Iranians in the long run, they want the sanctions removed. There is still no need for the military option, but it needs to be more credible, more in the US than here.”

Yediot Ahronot reports that Israel and Jordan’s economy ministers met in Jordan this week, the first meeting of its kind in more than a decade and another sign of warming relations between the countries. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Economy Minister Orna Barbivay and her Jordanian counterpart, Yousef Alshamali, signed an agreement to increase caps on Jordan exports to the Palestinian Authority. The meeting was aimed at “enhancing civilian ties between Israel and Jordan, strengthening neighbourly relations, and promoting cooperation between the two countries,” the ministry said. Barbivay said the new trade deals are key to strengthening relations with Jordan, which is of prime importance to “national security, and the protection of Israel’s longest and most quiet border.”

Haaretz reports that the Women of the Wall were met with violence at the Western Wall this morning as they tried to enter the plaza holding Torah scrolls. According to Women of the Wall – a feminist prayer group that holds a monthly prayer session at the site – more than 100 activists and supporters took part in the procession to protest regulations banning them from bringing Torah scrolls into the prayer plaza. In parallel, around 2,000 Orthodox protesters arrived at the scene, as large police forces created a barrier between them and the female worshippers. Security guards from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation attempted to stop worshippers from the group from reaching the site. Kan Radio News reports that President Isaac Herzog had been trying to mediate between the political supporters of the women’s group and ultra-Orthodox political leaders. Previously MKs Gilad Kariv (Labour) and Alon Tal (Blue and White) had responded in the affirmative to President Herzog’s request and said that they would not join Women of the Wall for prayers for the start of the new Jewish month. The President informed Kariv that he had instructed the director general of the President’s Residence to commence talks next week with all of the relevant figures in order to hear their positions and attempt to find potential solutions to the crisis.

Israel Hayom reports that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been preparing to resume its international campaign against Israel after several months of quiet. The Palestinians are expected to demand that international organisations condemn Israel, and even to have it suspended from international institutions and organizations.  The PA has begun taking steps against Israeli organisations, starting with Regavim and NGO Monitor, which they declared were “terror organisations,” in response to Defence Minister Gantz’s decision to designate six Palestinian human rights organisations as terror organisations. After President Joe Biden’s election victory, incoming administration officials relayed messages to the Palestinians that the Biden administration expected the PA to lower its profile in its demand to investigate Israel and the IDF in the International Criminal Court in The Hague and to demand its suspension from international organisations. The Palestinians acceded to the request, but a senior official in Ramallah said that the dealbreaker that prompted the PA to resume its international campaign against Israel was the approval given to build 3,000 housing units in the settlements and the fact that the conflict had been pushed to the side and barely received any attention from Biden. The latter has not gone to the trouble yet to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the sides are not likely to return to the negotiating table soon.

Kan Radio News reported that hundreds of right-wing activists demonstrated near the Chords Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem last night. They demanded that the police officers who took part in the chase in the Binyamin area in which the teenager Ahuvia Sandak was killed near the end of last year be prosecuted. Some of the demonstrators blocked roads and threw stones and objects at police officers. One officer was hit in the head and a police vehicle was damaged. The police dispersed the demonstrators using crowd-control measures and arrested 14 demonstrators.