The Times and the i reports on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel this week. Modi arrived to a red carpet welcome at Ben-Gurion Airport promising to build a “strong and resilient partnership with Israel”. The Times says the visit represents a “profound shift” for India, historically reluctant to make public its relationship with Israel. As one Indian diplomat noted, Modi “is bringing the relationship out of the closet”. Modi and Netanyahu are to sign a new arms deal this week, and discuss plans to deploy Israeli high-tech irrigation and desalination technology in India. The BBC reports that PM Netanyahu will exceed the usual protocol of meeting foreign leaders by accompanying Modi for most of his visit, an honour usually reserved only for top level guests like the US President.

The Financial Times reports that Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has said that Doha is willing to hold talks with the Arab nations that have severed ties with Qatar. Al Thani said on Tuesday that Doha was “prepared to engage in dialogue to examine the grievances raised by other states,” but added that any discussions “must be based on clear principles without the threat of escalation”.

The Times reports that a proposal to give Israeli settlers a larger presence in Sheikh Jarrah, north of Jerusalem’s Old City, will be considered by a Finance Ministry committee this month, in a move the Israeli NGO Peace Now has labelled an attempt “to destroy the possibility of the two-state solution”. The article notes that the plan concerns two blocks of flats, an office building and a nine-storey religious school, and if implemented would require the eviction of five Palestinian families.

The i and the Metro reports that a petition signed by 14,000 people is urging Radiohead to cancel a concert in Tel Aviv this month as part of a cultural boycott of Israel.

The Labour party leadership election dominates the Israeli media.  Both Yediot Ahronot and Maariv prominently note that the top two candidates are both of Moroccan descent vying for leadership of the party most associated with the old Ashkenazi elite. Apart from that, they are considered very different candidates.  According to Yediot Ahronot: “Peretz won 5% more than Avi Gabbay. That is a significant advantage. But Gabbay has his momentum working for him. Peretz is old news, whereas Gabbay is hot off the presses. The media will celebrate with him until he becomes old news. Peretz has proved in the past that he is capable of making inroads with some of the right wing voters in the development towns. However, those inroads were limited and failed to tip the elections. Gabbay’s potential has yet to be put to the test. On the face of things, he has a lot going for him. He has something to offer Lapid’s voters, Kahlon’s voters and the Likud voters who have grown tired of Netanyahu.”

Similarly, all the papers note the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Modi and the warm affection between him and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Reflecting on the visit Yediot Ahronot says: “Israel’s diplomatic situation has never been better. That appears to be the necessary conclusion. There is a crazy and fickle president sitting in the White House but, for the time being, he appears to be more sympathetic to Israel than to the others. The Europeans criticise Israel for its policies and they can’t stand Netanyahu personally, but they treat Israel respectfully. Far-flung players in Africa and the Far East are developing political and economic ties with Israel. Even the Sunni Arab countries have recently come to discover Jabotinsky’s iron wall: they prefer semi-secret relations over complete severance. The visit to Israel by India’s prime minister is just part of that process. It is another historic visit of economic and diplomatic significance.” Israel Hayom highlights not only the leaders’ warm embrace but also the significant cooperation in security, energy, medicine and space.

All of the Israeli newspapers report the story of a young officer in the IDF who was killed by one of his soldiers when his weapon accidentally fired in a training exercise.

Yediot Ahronot reports that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee passed a resolution that Israel is an ‘occupying power’ in Jerusalem, and called upon Israel to cancel all measures that are liable to change the status and nature of the Old City. Ten states supported the resolution, three voted against and eight abstained.

Maariv notes with concern the North Korean test firing of an inter-continental ballistic missile to coincide with US Independence Day.