The BBC reports that a deal between Israel’s prime minister-elect and his far-right partner reveals the likely next government’s highly controversial plans for settlements. It includes moves to legalise dozens of outposts in the occupied West Bank. If the plan becomes policy, it will set Israel on a collision course with the Palestinians and its foreign allies.

Reuters reports that Israel has sent diplomats to help its citizens attending the World Cup in Qatar and plans to launch temporary direct flights there on Sunday as the countries find a measure of accommodation for the soccer tournament despite having no formal relations. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Israelis are expected at the month-long tournament in the Gulf emirate, an unprecedented influx after years in which it admitted only low-key delegates.

Reuters also reports that Iran on Thursday accused its-arch enemy Israel and Western intelligence services of plotting to start a civil war in the Islamic Republic, now gripped by some of the biggest anti-government protests since the 1979 revolution. “Various security services, Israel and some Western politicians who have made plans for civil war, destruction and the disintegration of Iran should know that Iran is not Libya or Sudan,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted.

Reuters also publishes on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, reporting that the UN nuclear watchdog is aware of all of Iran’s activities, the head of the country’s atomic energy organisation said, a day after the atomic agency’s Board of Governors demanded an explanation for traces of uranium at three undeclared sites. The resolution, which was drafted on Thursday by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, said it was “essential and urgent” that Iran explain the origin of the uranium particles and more generally give the International Atomic Energy Agency all the answers it requires.

The Guardian reports that a man reputed to be one of Israel’s most wanted gang leaders has been arrested during a raid on a home in an affluent Johannesburg suburb where South African authorities said they also found guns, drugs and a van equipped for torture. South African police said on Thursday that the 46-year-old Israeli was a member of the Abergil gang, which deals in drug trafficking and extortion, and that he was wanted in Israel for several attempted murders.

The Guardian also reports that the US and Israel have pointed the finger at Iran after an oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire was struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman. The drone attack on the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon happened on Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, a Middle East-based defence official told the Associated Press.

The Guardian also publishes a piece on fake news and how it impacts protests in Iran. This weekend, a post revealing a terrible atrocity in Iran went viral on social media. “Iran sentences 15,000 protesters to death – as a ‘hard lesson’ for all rebels,” read the text on a now deleted infographic posted to Instagram on 12 November. In just two days, the original post received over 315,000 likes and was reposted thousands of times through the Stories feature. The infographic continued to be shared and reshared in the days after it originally surfaced, viewed millions of times.

On Iran, the BBC reports that four people have been sentenced to death on the charge of “enmity against God” in connection with the recent anti-government protests in Iran. Revolutionary Courts in Tehran said one of the unnamed “rioters” hit and killed a policeman with his car. The second possessed a knife and a gun, and the third blocked traffic and caused “terror”, it alleged. The fourth was convicted of a knife attack, Mizan reported late on Tuesday.

Kan Radio reports that associates of Religious Zionist Party Chairman Smotrich refused to discuss cabinet positions yesterday in a negotiating session with the Likud and said that they had already issued their demands. Netanyahu has been holding talks with Itamar Ben Gvir after breaking off talks with Smotrich. Ben Gvir said that he would not join the cabinet without Smotrich and that he was holding off on the motion to split Jewish Power from the Religious Zionist Party so as not to weaken their combined negotiating power. Smotrich rejected the Likud’s proposal that he concede the finance portfolio in exchange for the justice portfolio with expanded powers.

Discussing the seeming lack of progress in negotiations over portfolios for the new government, Sima Kadmon in Yediot Ahronot writes that Obstinance is Smotrich’s profession, as seen in the last election managed to derail Netanyahu’s attempt to form a government. “The latter knew who he was dealing with, which is why he doesn’t want to give Smotrich either the finance or the defense portfolio. Smotrich is too independent, too stubborn. Netanyahu doesn’t like having people like that in the most important ministries, which he wants to control. As of last night, the negotiations have stalled. The pipes are clogged, a blockage has been created and it won’t open until they get out of this pickle.”

Haaretz and Maariv report that Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in their first phone call since 2013. Last week Erdogan congratulated Netanyahu for his election win saying that he believes the government Netanyahu is expected to establish “will continue cooperation between Israel and Turkey to bring peace and stability to the region.” In the beginning of the month, Erdogan said that he “wants relations with Israel to continue based on mutual understanding with no relation to the election results.” He added that Turkey is “interested in maintaining relations with Israel based on shared interests, not just those of Israel and Turkey, but those of the entire region.”

In Haaretz, Amos Harel writes that Tuesday’s terror attack near Ariel, in which three Israelis were killed and several others were injured, defied trends detected by military officials in the West Bank in recent weeks. Since the October 25 Israel Defence Forces operation in Nablus, in which militants from the city’s Lion’s Den group were killed, there had been a significant decline in the intensity and scale of the violence. The attack this week, which was perpetrated by a lone assailant, underscored the difficulty of imposing scholarly statistical explanations on unfolding events. The ground is ripe for a renewed flare-up at any time; a random “success” by a terrorist, or an operational failure by Israeli forces, would be sufficient to cause an event whose effects would ripple out in the form of attempted copycat attacks, in an unbroken cycle.

Israel Hayom publishes an interview with Rabbi Haim Druckman considered to be one of the spiritual inspirations of the Religious Zionist party. “My expectation is that Jews will be allowed to settle everywhere, and certainly, that the state will apply sovereignty. Settlement is paramount and it is unthinkable that there be places in the Land of Israel that are different. This land is the Land of Israel, and Jews can live anywhere in the Land of Israel.” Regarding the High Court of Justice, Druckman says that “The court has great value, but there are limits. There must be boundaries and we’ve seen these boundaries crossed. The court is not the master. There must be proportion. I support an override clause. It is unthinkable that everyone stands at attention when the court rules. In a democratic country, it is the public that decides.”

In Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea publishes an interview with Attorney Nadav Weisman, who was the military prosecutor in the Elor Azaria trial. Weisman calls the override clause, “a very extreme step. It means that 61 MKs will be able to strike down any ruling of the Supreme Court. It means that the Knesset will be divided into two: the minority, which will continue to be subject to the law and to rulings, and the majority, which will be exempt. If the majority doesn’t like a ruling of the High Court of Justice, it will change it. This will be a mortal blow to equality under the law, to individual rights, to the separation of powers.” He adds that “This would be a disgrace that will live in infamy. It does not abolish the court—it abolishes the law, the institution of the law.”

Kan Radio and Yediot Ahronot reports that a fire that broke out in a residential building in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip which killed 21 people. The blaze spread from the building to nearby structures. A preliminary investigation has found that large quantities of fuel that were in the building contributed to the spread of the fire. Israel offered to help the Palestinian Authority evacuate injured people from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank via the Erez crossing. The PA thanked Israel for the offer and said that it would make an official request if necessary. PA Chairman Abu Mazen will reportedly announce a day of mourning today.

Israel Hayom reports that after decades of a construction freeze, the Jewish settlement in Hebron is headed for dramatic development. About 90 housing units will be built in the next few years in two compounds, in addition to the buildings that were bought last year for millions of shekels that will soon be refitted for occupancy. The hotel in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood will also be inaugurated this Sabbath, which will be open to visitors year-round, not just on the Sabbath, as was the case until now.