The Times reports that Iran has violated UN Security Council resolutions by conducting a test launch of a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The article says Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consequently called for the resumption of sanctions on Iran and said he will discuss the issue with US President Donald Trump.

The Telegraph reports that Netanyahu will meet President Trump at the White House on 15 February. The article includes comment from White House spokesman Sean Spicer, who said: “Our relationship with the only democracy in the Middle East is crucial to the security of both our nations.”

In an interview with the Guardian, Joint Arab List MK Haneen Zoabi, who has been criticised by Israeli politicians for incendiary rhetoric, says that Trump’s “kind of populism and his way of violent speech are the dominant model in Israel,” and that “Netanyahu and Trump represent the same model”.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Robert Hardman notes that six of the seven Muslim-majority countries from which entry is temporarily banned by President Trump’s executive order, “impose their own automatic ban on anyone with an Israeli passport”. Alex Deane makes a similar point in City AM, arguing that the ban in these countries can apply to “even those who’ve been to Israel”.

The Times reports that the Syrian government has denied rumours that President Bashar al-Assad has suffered a stroke. The Telegraph online says that hundreds of Syrian rebels have been forced to evacuate from the strategic stronghold of Wadi Barada, “marking another major victory for the government”.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Maariv, which is also covered prominently by Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom, is the diplomatic tension between Israel and Mexico after Prime Minister Netanyahu released a statement via social media in support of President Trump’s plans to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Israel Hayom says that Mexico’s government has demanded an apology. Netanyahu has blamed the diplomatic fallout on “the leftist media,” accusing the press of having “mobilised for a Bolshevik manhunt, brainwashing and character assassination against me and against my family”.

Writing in Maariv, Ben Caspit criticises Netanyahu, saying “‎the crisis with Mexico was formulated, initiated and created by Benjamin Netanyahu, with his own irresponsible words and tweets”. Expressing similar sentiments in Yediot Ahronot, Sima Kadmon says: “We are no longer talking here about post-truth. Not even about a world of alternative facts. This is a lie. A barefaced lie. Netanyahu sat yesterday in front of the cameras and pinned the entire responsibility for the crisis with Mexico on the Israeli media.”

Israel Radio reports that Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin will speak with his Mexican counterpart, President Enrique Pena Nieto, in order to try to diffuse the tension.

In other news, Haaretz reports on Iran’s ballistic missile test, describing it as a “first test for Trump”. Israel Radio covers Prime Minister Netanyahu’s condemnation of the missile launch. He noted that it is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, which he will discuss with President Trump.

Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom report that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has closed a probe against opposition leader, Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog, over allegations of suspected campaign financing irregularities. Mandelblit said that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the case.