In today’s UK media the Independent and Telegraph report on yesterday’s meeting in which Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat delivered a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The letter, partly quoted in the Independent, lays out Palestinian grievances in the stalled peace talks. The paper also notes Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad was expected to lead the delegation but withdrew at the last minute, reflecting the deepening divide within the Palestinian leadership.  Both the Independent and Telegraph also follow Julian Assange’s (founder of Wikileaks) debut as an interviewee on the English language network RT – Russia Today.  His first guest was Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah via satellite. Both newspapers characterise his approach as deferential, as Nasrallah justified his support for Assad in Syria. The Guardian reports on the world’s largest holding facility being built in Israel’s Negev desert to house asylum seekers and migrants from Africa.  BBC online notes that bans were upheld on some of the leading candidates in the Egyptian presidential election. This includes former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater and the ultraconservative Salafist, Hazem Abu Ismail.  Reuters reports the UN inspectors in Syria may “need to bring in their own aircraft and deploy more troops to ensure that a firm ceasefire takes hold throughout the country”.

In the Israeli media Yediot Ahronot, Israel Hayom and Ma’ariv all mark Holocaust Memorial Day which begins this evening on their front pages.  The first two papers even have the same headline “Never Again”.  Last night’s meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Saeb Erekat is reported in all the papers.  The incident in which an IDF officer, Lt Col Eisner, struck a Danish activist, continues to feature prominently in the media. The officer at the centre of the storm is reported as defending in actions in  Ma’ariv, saying, “I didn’t kill anyone and didn’t endanger anyone’s life”.  However most papers predict that he will soon be dismissed from his post.  All the papers discuss the fallout of the weekend’s nuclear negotiations with Iran and the P5+1, having been briefed by a senior US official who highlighting the tough stance taken by the US. Haaretz emphasises the US claim to have coordinated with Israel in advance of the talks. Israel Hayom and Haaretz note the Knesset will meet in a special session today, despite being on recess, to discuss proposed legislation advanced by Justice Minister Neeman to regulate the ability of the Supreme Court to disqualify laws.