Media Summary
Car ramming terror attack near the Ofra settlement
The Times, Guardian and Daily Mail cover the story that former London Mayor Ken Livingstone has received a further year of suspension for his comments on Hitler and Zionism. The Guardian notes that nine senior members of Labour Friends of Israel wrote to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn asking him to call publicly for Livingstone’s expulsion and to press for a review of the panel’s decision. The Daily Mail notes Labour MP Luciana Berger’s question: “Why is anti-Semitism being treated differently from any other form of racism?”
The i and Daily Telegraph also covered this story. The Daily Telegraph notes that Livingstone’s comments were deployed with “the express purpose of likening Israelis to Nazis”.
The Daily Express notes Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis’s comments that the Labour Party “had failed the Jewish community”.
The Times reports that the Israeli opposition has delayed its leadership election due to a clash with Britney Spears’s concert in Tel Aviv.
The Times reports that Hamas has given “collaborators” with Israel until 11 April to turn themselves in and receive mercy as the investigation into the murder of Mazen Fuqaha continues.
The chemical attack in Syria continues to dominate the coverage across the Israeli media. Yediot Ahronot runs an exclusive interview with Defence Minister Lieberman who asserts that the chemical attack was a direct order from Assad. Haaretz suggests the chemical attack is the beginning of a strategic battle for outright control of Idlib. Israel Hayom observes the diplomatic fallout, noting; Condemnations, But No Actions. Maariv followed the debate in the Knesset and the controversial comments by head of the Joint List Ayman Odeh who compared the murder of children in Syria to deaths in Gaza.
Yediot Ahronot has a second exclusive by Ronen Bergman which shows former Mossad director Meir Dagan in his younger years disguised as a Palestinian fisherman on the Gaza beach, the photo is from the 1970s.
Haaretz leads on domestic news with the Knesset passing legislation that would lead to harsher penalty’s for construction without a permit. The law is likely to adversely affect the Arab communities where permits are harder to obtain, thereby construction without permits is more prevalent.
Army Radio reports on a car ramming terror attack by the Ofra settlement in the West Bank. One Israeli was killed, another injured. The attacker was captured at the scene and detained by the IDF. The precise details are still being verified.
Yediot Ahronot reports that Jibril Rajoub, a senior official in the Palestinian Authority was served with a US$250m civil lawsuit when he arrived in the US. The suit accuses him of torture and murder of a Palestinian- American, Azzam Rahim in 1995.
Israel Hayom covers joint training exercise between US Navy Seals and their Israeli equivalent Shayetet 13.
Israel Radio led this morning with President Trump said that he is investing a great deal of effort in attaining peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He made the remarks at the White House in a joint press conference with King Abdullah of Jordan.
Israel Radio also had positive economic news, with the state’s tax revenue NIS 90bn higher than their projected target.