There has been extensive coverage in the UK media of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyuahu’s presentation last night that disclosed documents which point to Iran “having lied and deceived the world in regard to its nuclear program”.

The Telegraph, the Guardian, the Times, the Financial Times, the London Evening Standard, the Daily Mail, the Independent, the Sun and ITV News report that Netanyahu has revealed what he says are documents proving that Iran has maintained a secret nuclear programme. He claims thousands of pages of material acquired in a Mossad raid that proved that Tehran covered up a nuclear weapons programme before signing an agreement with the international community in 2015. In a speech delivered in English and relying on visual aids, Netanyahu claimed the material showed Iran cannot be trusted. He urged US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the deal next month. “Iran lied, big time,” he said. Trump said the presentation showed his threats to scrap the Obama-era deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbing its nuclear programme, are “100 per cent right”. BBC News Online further reports that new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the top secret documents Israel claims to have obtained on Iran’s nuclear programme show Tehran has lied. Pompeo said the information indicates that a nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers in 2015 was not built on good faith.

BBC Radio Four’s Today Programme interviewed former State Department official Aaron David Miller and Alastair Burt, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa . The Telegraph has published its own editorial regarding the Iran deal where it argues that “a wider conflict is coming to the Middle East unless Iran mends its ways”.  It also published two op-eds, one by Tim Stanley that argues that Trump’s ultimate goal with both Iran and North Korean nuclear deals is ultimately to have “the world look after itself”. The second op-ed by Con Coughlin argues that “Israel’s only aim is to persuade Donald Trump to scrap the Iran nuclear deal” and that this plan could be working. The Times also published two op-eds, one by Anshel Pfeffer which argues that Netanyahu is trying to sell himself as an indispensable asset to both Trump and his Israeli domestic audience, painting himself as “he only one capable of facing up to the Iranian threat”. The second op-ed, by Diplomatic Correspondent Catherine Philip argues that despite the “flair” of Netanyahu’s presentation, very little information displayed was new. She argues further that “what the material most vividly illustrated was why the Iranian nuclear deal was needed and why its architects fought so hard to forge it: to halt Iran’s race to acquire the nuclear know-how and materials to build a bomb. What Netanyahu failed to demonstrate was that the 2015 deal had not worked, or even that Iran had done anything to violate it.”

The Financial Times reports that European leaders desperate to save the nuclear accord with Iran balked when French President Emmanuel Macron stood alongside Trump and said he favoured a “new deal” with the Islamic republic. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recoiled at what he perceived as betrayal by Macron, who appeared to suggest that the 2015 agreement should be extended beyond reining in Tehran’s nuclear activities. However, the “new deal,” French diplomats say, was not about ripping up the 2015 accord, but rather looking at the potential of a supplementary agreement that would address Trump’s concerns over so-called sunset clauses in the existing deal that expire in 2025, its regional role and its ballistic missile programme. Last year, there were still hopes in Paris that Trump could be convinced not to collapse the deal. However, French aides now say that with less than two weeks to go before the US leader announces his decision on whether to stay in the accord, Macron is shifting his focus in the belief that Trump has already made up his mind.

The Financial Times reports that oil prices hit new highs for the session after Israel said it has “new and conclusive proof” that Iran has been hiding nuclear weapons activity, with traders betting it increases the odds US President Donald Trump will reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, reached a high for the day of $75.41 a barrel shortly after Netanyahu began speaking. The oil market has been tracking developments around the 2015 Iran nuclear deal closely, with the Trump administration to decide by 12 May whether to withdraw from the agreement

The Independent reports that it is likely that Israel launched the missile attack in Syria that killed at least 26 pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians, late on Sunday night. The targets included a ground-to-ground missile depot that exploded with the seismic impact of a small earthquake. Iranian news outlets first confirmed and then denied that Iranian facilities had been destroyed, suggesting that Tehran wants to deny that the incident took place because it does not intend to retaliate against Israel at this time. Israel has not confirmed officially that it was responsible for the airstrikes, but the Israeli media is reporting them as if there was no doubt that Israel was behind them.

The Guardian reports that Christians in Jerusalem’s Old City say their presence at the geographical heart of their faith is under threat from intimidation and aggressive property acquisition by “hardline Jewish settlers”. According to church leaders, priests are being verbally abused and spat at, and property vandalised. The churches say they are facing onslaught on three fronts: a war of attrition waged by “hardline settlers”; unprecedented tax demands by Jerusalem city council; and a proposal to allow the expropriation of church land put up for sale.

The Metro reports that Israel is still the favourite to win the Eurovision song contest taking place in Portugal this year.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wound up a three-day Middle East trip on Monday without having met any Palestinians, but nevertheless urged their leadership to rejoin the peace process. Washington’s newly appointed top diplomat received a warm reception in Riyadh, Tel Aviv and Amman, focusing his talks on Iranian interference in the region, despite the tensions once against rising between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that Israel is ready to finally get things underway this week with its historic hosting of the Giro d’Italia cycling race. The world’s best riders will start the race in Jerusalem on Friday in the first time one of cycling’s Grand Tours will ever be held outside Europe. It’s the biggest and most prestigious sporting event ever hosted in Israel and features four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, who is looking to become only the third person ever to win the three Grand Tour titles in a row. In its 101-year history, the Giro has previously opened a dozen times outside Italy but never outside Europe. Its arrival in Israel is the result of the lobbying efforts of Sylvan Adams, a Canadian-Israeli cycling enthusiast who conjured the idea to coincide with Israel’s marking 70 years of independence. He said his aim was twofold: to promote the sport in Israel and to project its “normal” image to the world, rather than the typical association of war and conflict.

The Israeli media is dominated by Netanyahu’s presentation disclosing findings that he said “proved Iran had lied and deceived the world in regard to its nuclear program”.

Writing in Yediot Ahronoth Nahum Barnea says: “Applause for the Mossad’s intelligence achievement. Applause for Netanyahu’s presentation. Even if we Israelis were not exactly astonished when we heard that the Iranians were liars, the findings have significance in the propaganda war that is being waged by the Israeli government.” However, he adds that “not only we, but the Obama administration too, and the leaders of Europe, Russia and China, presumed that the Iranians were lying when they claimed that their nuclear project was intended for peaceful purposes. Had they believed that the Iranians were building a sunflower seed plant in Fordo, they would not have tried so hard to reach an agreement.”

In similar vein, Chemi Shalev in Haaretz writes: “Netanyahu, however, did not supply the smoking gun. After one is duly impressed by his Ted Talk choreography and wide array of technological gimmicks, after giving full credit to the Israeli Mossad for getting its hands on such a treasured trove from what Netanyahu described as Tehran’s “atomic archives” and after the high anxiety generated by the prime minister’s office spin about an impending earth-shattering event finally dissipates, one is left with much ado about nothing.”

Also in Yediot Ahronot, Alex Fishman argues that “the most important message that emerged yesterday from the Prime Minister’s show, was that the Israeli Mossad has extraordinary operational capability…And that, more or less, is where the drama ends”, he added that “had the Prime Minister succeeded in showing the world even one single item that proves that the agreement was violated, the picture would be entirely different and would indeed be a global sensation” but ultimately “the archive that was seized makes order and corroborates information that was mostly known by the West”.

Ronen Bergman in Yediot Ahronoth and Ben Caspit in Maariv touch on some practical consequences of the presentation. Bergman writes that “The exposure… was done in order to support Donald Trump’s decision on the nuclear agreement, and according to high-ranking Israeli sources this is a decision that the US president has already made”. He added that “Israel is not saying that Iran violated the nuclear agreement, but rather that the entire agreement was based on an Iranian lie, fraud and deception. Iran denied repeatedly over the years that it was operating or had operated a covert nuclear project. Now Israel has come along and proven that this is a lie. The material also proves the violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which entails – irrespective of the nuclear agreement – significant sanctions. It is important to note that the material made public last night does not include proof that the Iranians violated the agreement after it was signed, and this is the point emphasised by the Europeans, who strongly supported the agreement and wish to preserve it. They said that everyone knew that Iran was lying and what is important is what it has done since the signing. Therefore, no fundamental change can be expected from them”.

Caspit argues that while there was no “smoking gun” presented yesterday that proves that Iran is violating the nuclear agreement, “what Bibi did yesterday was to provide the president with a good and resounding alibi for what he is supposed to do on May 12, and while doing so, gain a few more seats on the domestic front.”

Army Radio, Maariv and the Jerusalem Post report that the Nationality Bill was approved last night in a first reading in the Knesset by 64 votes to 50. The Bill will now be handed over to a special committee headed by Likud MK Amir Ohana, which will prepare the bill for its second and third readings.

Yediot Ahronot reports that the Knesset has authorised the Cabinet to launch military operations without Government approval, and in extreme cases, the only requirement will be a green light from the Prime Minister and Defence Minister.

The Times of Israel reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that Jews’ behaviour, rather than antisemitism, caused the Holocaust and that European Jews therefore had “no historical ties” to the Land of Israel.