The Economist reports on Netanyahu, saying he has pledged to build on his achievement of his previous term, particularly the Abraham Accords with the UAE and Bahrain, creating the possibility of normalisation of relations with Arab countries. How Ben-Gvir will fit into this rubric is not clear. He has been openly hostile to Palestinians, calling those deemed ‘disloyal’ to be expelled. Netanyahu, on his part, was a vocal opponent of the US-Iran nuclear deal, which put him at odds with Barack Obama in whose administration Joe Biden served as vice-president.

The Guardian mentions Rishi Sunak’ u-turn on moving the British Embassy to Jerusalem, saying Truss signalled she was ready to follow Donald Trump’s lead by moving the UK’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Sunak has now abandoned these plans.

The Spectator publishes a long read on Hadar Muchtar, who founded a party, Tzeirim Boarim, or Youth on Fire, to protest rising prices. She’s a 21-year-old from Kiryat Ono, near Tel Aviv, who became famous on TikTok for posting videos of her comparing the prices of things in Israel and Germany, where she spent a year as a university student. Inflation in Israel is 4.6 per cent, and homes are nearly 20 per cent more expensive than they were last year. On TikTok Muchtar has 130,000 followers, and before the election her party was polling at around 1.5 per cent.

The Telegraph publishes a holiday piece on Israel’s ‘Zimmers’, family owned cabins in the Negev. “Zimmers are one of the country’s best-kept secrets if you want to discover a more authentic side to Israel,” said Ben Julius, founder and chief executive of Tourist Journey, a Tel Aviv-based travel company that organises zimmer stays. “There are more than 1,500 zimmers in Israel, but most don’t promote themselves to the international market – often just because they are busy with Israeli guests.” He explained that though “zimmer” is the German word for “room”, visitors should not necessarily think they will be slumming it: these family-owned cabins are usually very spacious, sometimes luxurious, and nearly always a long way off the beaten track.

POLITICO reports on the current state of protest in Iran, saying that the international mainstream media has already started to lose interest in the revolt in Iran, and we need to continue the fight for dignity and liberty, using the very thing that helped start it in the first place — social media.

Kan Radio reports that President Isaac Herzog will leave for the climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh and will lead the Israeli delegation that includes the environmental protection minister, the regional cooperation minister, the science minister and the education minister. Herzog said that the climate conference “is a historic event in humanity’s most important struggle – saving the planet’s climate”. Upon his arrival, Herzog is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and with UN Secretary General António Guterres. Later today he will also meet with the United Arab Emirates President, the British Prime Minister and the Jordanian King.

Kan Radio reports that officials in Jordan Amman warned that any attempt by the next government to change the status quo on the Temple Mount would definitely jeopardize relations between Jordan and Israel and was also liable to jeopardize relations with other Arab states. Officials said that if Itamar Ben Gvir were to be appointed a minister and were then to visit the Temple Mount and commit provocative acts, the reaction would be utterly different from what it has been to date following Ben Gvir’s visits to the Temple Mount as an MK.

Maariv reports comments by Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman regarding Israel’s credit rating suffering if Netanyahu were to breach the budget deficit framework. Liberman was referring to another NIS 3 billion for Haredi education without core curriculum. He also warned about spending NIS 1 billion on Aryeh Deri’s food vouchers program. “Obviously, there is no budget for these demands and to meet them, the deficit will have to be dramatically increased, which today is zero percent. It’s very unfortunate that money that was saved through great effort is going to be wasted. The only consolation is the fact that Israel is part of the global economy.” Liberman added, “We have to take into account that today we are part of the modern and global economy, and not a remote island. We aren’t North Korea. I’ve already begun to hear ricochets about the possibility of lowering the credit rating if our economy doesn’t get managed responsibly. If that happens, interest rates will soar far beyond their level today and we will be on a slippery slope.”

Haaretz reports that legal experts are voicing alarm over a proposal to allow 61 of the Knesset’s 120 lawmakers to override Supreme Court rulings – a move they warn would essentially abolish the separation of powers, eliminate protections for minority rights and enable the government to do as it pleases with no oversight. A 61-lawmaker override would let the majority “do whatever it wants, ignore Basic Laws and High Court rulings – not just to legislate with no limits, but to act with no limits,” said Prof. Suzie Navot, vice president of the Israel Democracy Institute. “It’s important to remember that even without enacting such an override clause, Israel is the only country among those defined as ‘free’ that has no tools to decentralize political power,” she added, noting that just 61 MKs are enough to change Basic Laws, the courts’ powers and the system of government, or to curtail human rights. “In this situation, the judiciary is the main branch of government with the power to check the majority’s power,” she concluded. “Therefore, here especially, judicial oversight that can effectively protect human rights and the constitutional and democratic order is more necessary.” Before retiring as deputy attorney general in September, Raz Nizri was part of a team appointed by Justice Minister Gideon Saar to draft a Basic Law on Legislation that, among other things, would regulate the court’s power to overturn laws. “I always said an override clause isn’t a dirty word” depending on “how you legislate it,” he said. But a 61-MK override “is like a broken cane for a lame man who needs a major leg operation. Nevertheless, he said, it should also require a special judicial majority to overturn a law, which isn’t the case today. “In a proper balance among the branches of government, it’s wrong for laws to be overturned by a one-vote majority among the justices.”

Israel Hayom reports comments by Netanyahu confidant Ron Dermer, former Israeli ambassador to Washington who said that he would be very surprised if the Biden Administration refused to work with Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir if they are appointed ministers. “to boycott an elected official who was elected in a democratic election…that would be very surprising” said Dermer.

Maariv reports that Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial will resume this morning for the first time since the defendant emerged from the most recent election as the “designated prime minister.” Netanyahu’s supporters argue that the outcome of the election proves that the public believes him to be innocent of all charges and that the court should acquit him accordingly. Today Limor Likovsky, who worked as a chef for Arnon Milchan, will testify. Yaakov Gershoni, the owner of The Cabinet restaurant will also be called on to testify, as will employees of several shops from which the prosecution alleges gifts were bought for the Netanyahus. Court will be in session this week for three full days. One political official said: “Now the question is whether the trial will proceed differently given the results of the election, or will only the evidence play a role.  Will they be harder on him because he’s the prime minister or might they actually ease up on him? One thing that’s for sure is that the disparity between the public’s trial and the evidence-based trial has never seemed bigger.”

Channel 12 News reports that senior Likud MK Yisrael Katz was recorded in a private conversation in which he “revealed” that he had enlisted several Likud MKs to form a bloc against the chairman. In the recording, Katz attacked people he said had agreed to serve as Netanyahu’s “soldiers” in order to be given senior portfolios in return. “Bibi gives positions to two [types of] people, those he wants and those he owes, mostly those he owes.” But a short time later the MKs whom Katz mentioned as being part of his bloc denied this. “In short, we’re not about to trade blows” Katz says in the recordings. “But ultimately, I’m the chairman of the Likud secretariat, I am a dominant figure in the Likud, I held the post before and it is legitimate [for me to be finance minister].”