The BBC reports that the Israeli government has authorised nine Jewish settlements in the West Bank which were previously unauthorised outposts. It is the first such move by the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The international community regards all settlements as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

The Financial Times reports on our main story, that Israel’s president has appealed to the hardline new government to delay a contested judicial overhaul, warning that mounting political polarisation had left the country “on the brink of constitutional and social collapse”.

The Times reports on a new programme broadcasting on Israel’s Channel 13. ‘Sayeret Matkal’, as it is known in Hebrew — its official name is General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, or “the Unit”, as its members prefer to call it — was an official secret in Israel for the first three decades of its existence, until the early 1990s. Even when it was allowed to emerge, just slightly, from the shadows, nearly all its “core” missions — deep-penetration, intelligence-gathering operations in Arab countries — remained classified.

The Guardian reports on an accusation from an Arab professor and lecturer in diversity, who has accused accused George Washington University of “colluding” with a pro-Israel group over a federal complaint accusing her of antisemitism. The group, StandWithUs (SWU), filed a complaint with the US education department’s civil rights office claiming that Lara Sheehi, an assistant professor of clinical psychology, discriminated against Jewish students by refusing to accept their definitions of antisemitism.

Sky News reports that a rocket fired from Gaza has been intercepted by aerial defences, the Israeli military has said. Israelis ran into bomb shelters after sirens sounded in border communities. In another development, Palestinian officials said a Jewish settler fatally shot a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

Reuters reports that Netanyahu on Sunday promised a stronger Israeli response in dealing with a spate of Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, as pressure swelled within his right-wing government to employ more severe tactics. His remarks came two days after a car ramming attack in the Jerusalem outskirts killed three Israelis and two weeks after a lone Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue, adding to rising anxiety in Israel over security.

Army Radio reports on the strikes targeting Hamas rocket manufacturing sites in both Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Strip, and in Khan Yunis, in the south. Following the Israeli attacks, alarms sounded as rockets were fired on border communities, including Sderot and the Western Negev, responsibility for which was claimed by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Israel Hayom reports on the laying to rest on Saturday evening of brothers Asher Menahem Paley, 8, and Yaakov Yisrael Paley, 6, at Har HaMenuchot Cemetery. Both were victims of Friday’s car-ramming attack in Jerusalem’s Ramot neighbourhood. The boys’ uncle said “the grief and agony are indescribable,” also saying of the perpetrators that “they are murderers who sanctify bloodshed, not life. I hope we come out of this united.”

Maariv quotes Prime Minister Netanyahu criticising Likud MK Tali Gottlieb’s extraordinary broadside against Supreme Court President Esther Hayut this weekend. Gottlieb had tweeted over the weekend that “I blame the President of the Supreme Court for the [car-ramming] attack. I blame her for the sense of chaos in the people of Israel.” Netanyahu said “The one to blame for the attack is the Palestinian terrorist and no one else”.

Kan Radio reports the security forces carrying out a mission in Nablus, resulting in the arrests of two suspects wanted for a shooting attack four months near Shavei Shomron in which Staff Sgt. Ido Baruch was killed. Heavy exchanges of fire were reported during the mission, and Palestinian reports indicate a 22-year-old man was killed and five others injured. No Israeli injuries were reported.

Kan Radio also covers the security cabinet last night opting to legalise nine West Bank outposts, in line with the strategy agreed following the Neve Yaakov terror attack. The security cabinet also agreed to convene the Civil Administration’s Supreme Planning and Construction Committee this week, which is expected to approve construction on some 10,000 new housing units in existing West Bank settlements. US officials have expressed “deep concerns” with the announcement and reiterated the country’s policy in opposition to settlement expansion. Maariv reports, meanwhile, that the illegal settlement at Gofna, in Binyamin, has been evacuated and removed.

Commenting on President Herzog’s speech in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea finds that by “call[ing] on the coalition to temporarily delay its legislative blitz,” Herzog placed “one foot squarely in the protestors’ camp. It paints the coalition as being rejectionist, extremist and pugnacious at any price.” Barnea argued that the “crisis desperately needs a responsible adult. Herzog assumed that role with natural ease… If the time arrives when some coalition members wish to back down from the high limb they currently are on, Herzog will be the tree trunk.” Ariel Kahana, in Israel Hayom, wrote of Herzog’s speech in similarly complementary terms.

Maariv discusses today’s anticipated protests and strike action against the judicial reforms. Tens of thousands are expected to attend the protest outside the Knesset building in Jerusalem, while those on strike is expected to reach hundreds of thousands. Striking workers will include “thousands of doctors and medical staff, staff of mental health facilities, hundreds of tech companies, hundreds of law firms, small businesses, restaurants, lecturers and students, high school students, parents and young children, people from the gay community, architects and planners, and salaried employees from sectors who are not part of any organized group, but who have already informed their employers that they will not be coming to work, including places where the employees are members of the Histadrut labour union,” which has not formally joined the protest movement. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai has announced that local employees can take a vacation day in order to participate in the demonstration.

Also on the judicial reform process, Army Radio details chaotic scenes today in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, where chairman Simcha Rothman ejected opposition members who were trying to delay the start of the day’s proceedings, which will include voting on elements of the reforms which alter the selection of the committee appointing judges and remove the right of the Supreme Court to intervene on Basic Laws.

Haaretz reports a Tiberias man being questioned by police on suspicion of incitement to violence against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara after stating on social media that she should be killed. He was later released after issuing an apology on condition that he not communicate, directly or indirectly, with Baharav-Miara. Based on other intelligence, the security level around the Attorney General is currently at the highest possible.

Ynet discusses the Knesset’s ministerial committee for legislation on Sunday approving an amendment to Basic Law: The Government prohibiting judicial intervention in the appointment of a minister, or ordering their dismissal. The committee’s move is an attempt to reverse the Supreme Court’s January decision to bar Shas leader Aryeh Deri from serving in cabinet. The Court cited the “extreme unreasonableness” of Deri serving given his latest criminal conviction, and the violation of the “estoppel” principle provided by what it interpreted as Deri reversing his commitment to the magistrate’s court not to seek future high office.

Ynet also details one of the Israeli teams in Turkey conducting relief work having to leave the country after a “concrete and immediate threat” was made against its members. United Hatzalah, whose staff have helped rescue some 15 people since arriving in Turkey, evacuated roughly two dozen staff. The IDF’s medical team and the team IsrAid will remain in Turkey.