Front Page News:

Haaretz

• Government on the way: Night discussions on distribution of ministry portfolios
• Likely coalition: Binyamin Netanyahu - Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Moshe Yaalon - Defense Minister, Yair Lapid - Minister of Finance, Naftali Bennett - Minister of Industry, Tzipi Livni - Minister of Justice, Uri Ariel, Minister of Housing
• Old-style politics // Yossi Verter
• The Ministry went outside // Nehemia Shtrasler
• The bad guy of the government // Sami Peretz
• Calls in Egypt for returning military rule following anarchy in streets
• War field - Soccer riots threatening to engulf Egypt // Zvi Bar'el
• Netanyahu becoming moderate, Obama maturing - Barak Ravid
• Archive documents: Turkey opposed search for (Israel's) Dakar (submarine)

Yedioth Ahronoth

• [Yair Lapid photo] The Treasury is in his hands - If there is no last moment change, the new government will be sworn in Wednesday
• Just not a sucker // Nahum Barnea
• Correct politics // Sima Kadmon
• Back to Netanyahu / Sever Plotcker
• Yedioth Ahronoth photographer injured at Temple Mount - Police refused to allow him to be evacuated [Note: He's Arab - OH]
• There is another place - High prices and deteriorating treatment: Why more and more tourists chose not to come to Israel

Maariv

• Lapid Minister of Finance, Bennett Minister of Industry; Netanyahu government to be sworn-in this week
• The hard way // Shalom Yerushalmi
• War of everything // Zeev Kamm
• For the first time: Molotov cocktails at Temple Mount
• 29 hours after the Dakar disappeared, a letter was received by an anonymous group that identified itself as the submarine's crew
• Within a week: Third murder of women by their partners. 79-year-old suspected of murdering wife in Jerusalem
• Locust arrived in center and north. Ministry of Agriculture recommends taking roach repellant
• Smoke above Cairo - Three killed in mass riots in streets of Egypt following death sentence given by High Court to 21 convicted in soccer tragedy in Port Said

Israel Hayom

• Completing the puzzle - New government likely to have 24 ministers; Goal to present it by Wednesday; Tension heightening in Likud: Who will get which ministry?
• How to solve the lack of portfolios in Likud // Dan Margalit
• Fear: 'Biocord to thaw cord blood
• "Hope dropped to the depths" - Mystery of the Dakar
• Suspicion: 79-year-old stabbed his wife to death
• Embarrassment in President Peres' entourage over "misunderstanding"
• Egypt: Riots following death sentence to soccer fans

News Summary:
Yair Lapid drops the Foreign Ministry for the Finance Ministry, the still-unsolved mystery of the lost Israeli submarine and the murder of another woman by her husband made top stories in today's Israeli papers. Meanwhile, clashes at the Temple Mount and preparations in gear for the visit of US President Barack Obama next week.

Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid finally officially dropped his demand to be Foreign Minister speeding up the coalition negotiations. Now it looks like Lapid will be Finance Minister and Naftali Bennett of Habayit Hayehudi will be Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor and maybe public diplomacy minister, too. Haaretz writes Habayit Hayehudi will get also the Housing Ministry, the Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Ministry and Religious Affairs Ministry. Two battles remain: One is over who will be Education Minister. Yesh Atid wants its No. 2, Shai Piron, while Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wants to keep Gideon Saar, [the man who has brought tours of Jewish religious sites in the West Bank and commemorating Olei HaGardom - Jews who committed acts of terror in pre-State Palestine, as part of Israeli children's education. - OH] The other fight is over the number of ministers: The number will be between 21-25, writes Yedioth. Now the tension is in Likud between all the ministers who won't be ministers in the next government. 
 
Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces took place as expected Friday - a day after a Palestinian young man died of his wounds after being shot by a soldier two weeks earlier. Police entered the Temple Mount and physically clashed with worshippers after the latter threw rocks at them. The police were received with more rocks and - for the first time - firebombs from the holy area. Far right-wing Likud MK Moshe Feiglin said the riots were the fault of the police. Award-winning Yedioth photojournalist, Ata Awisat, was injured in the melee, but Israel Police would not allow him to be evacuated. Awisat is an Arab from E. Jerusalem. While the Israeli papers focused on the Temple Mount, clashes actually took place across the West Bank, as Maan News Agency reported. Dozens of Palestinians were injured in clashes after the funeral of Mohammed Afour at the village of Aboud, where 5000 people paid their respects.
 
Ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel next week, the Prime Minister's Office has prepared an 'Obama app' that will allow Israelis to follow the US president's visit step-by-step and watch real-time pictures and videos. The Americans are also busy with preparations. A team arrived last month to decide where Air Force One will land and where the President will stay. Another team is due to arrive this week with coordinators for every event the President will participate in. Ynet has the details. Meanwhile, the US embassy has launched a competition for 20 invitations to Obama's speech.
 

Quick Hits:

• Settlers attack 67-year-old farmer in Beit Ummar - A group of 30 young settlers attacked Mohammad Abed al-Hamid Jabir Slaibi and his sons with rocks while they worked on their land Saturday. The land is adjacent to Bat Ayin settlement. IDF soldiers were present, but did not intervene. (Maan)

• Palestinian Authority: Settlers destroy over 100 olive trees in Nablus - Settlers from Rechalim destroyed at least 120 olive trees in the nearby Palestinian village of As-Sawiya. "This is the second time that settlers uproot my olive trees in the last two years," said Muhammad Jazi. The settlers also wrote racist slogans in Hebrew over water barrels in the village, and sprayed the word "punishment." (Maan)

• (Jewish) teens yell, spit at 60-year-old Arab woman in Nazareth Illit - Three teens arrested for harassing Arab woman in Nazareth Illit to give talks on racism; 'We preferred education to punitive measures,' says officer. Two other teens turn themselves over to Jerusalem police over attack on Arab woman and her Jewish friend. (Haaretz and Ynet)
• **'Ready to play Arabs till the day I die' - In Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty,' Israeli actor Yoav Levi steps into shoes of senior al-Qaeda terrorist Abu Faraj al-Libbi. 'A bin Laden can emerge from the Hilltop Youth as well,' he says. 'Extremism is a universal language.' (Ynet)
• IDF orders fences around 2 settlements taken down, 3 months after court deadline - IDF told the High Court that the fences would be destroyed by the end of 2012 and new ones would be built, but didn't pull through. (Haaretz)
• Yishai warns Lapid will target settlements - Shas leader lashes out at Yesh Atid, Habayit Hayehudi chairmen, predicts new Knesset elections 'within less than two years.' (Ynet)
• IDF conscripts' willingness to serve in combat roles continues to drop - Only 71.6 percent of youth who will be drafted into combat units this March requested to serve as combat soldiers. (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
• Syrian rebels fire shots on Golan border - Taking advantage of UN peacekeepers' absence, Assad's opponents release videos shot not far from border with Israel, vow to 'return the Golan to the free Syrian people.' (Ynet)
• Fearing terror attacks, IDF boosts forces on Syrian border - As presence of Assad's forces near Israeli border dwindles, army reinforces its dominance on Golan Heights, preparing for different scenarios, including fire on forces revamping border fence. (Ynet)
• IDF asks: Who is a fighter? The Israeli army has yet to resolve whether a UAV or Iron Dome operator should be classified as a front-line soldier. (Haaretz)
• Women MKs form lobby to promote gender equality in Israel - MK Merav Michaeli heads joint effort aimed at furthering feminist issues through legislative measures. (Haaretz)
• Ahead of International Women's Day, Palestinians appeal to Israeli MKs for solidarity -  Palestinian women who have been denied permanent resident status in Israel despite marrying Israeli men ask female MKs to support their struggle. (Haaretz)
• IDF releases 1948 report on Women's Brigade - Marking International Women's Day, IDF archives uncover survey taken in 1948, measuring social, mental, vocational conditions of Women's Brigade servicewomen; most women expressed content, pride with service, but some leveled criticism. (Ynet)
• Did Peres' spokeswoman put the words back into his mouth? During Paris visit, President Shimon Peres replies affirmatively when asked whether he feels settlement construction should be frozen ahead of Obama visit, but spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch insists he misunderstood the question. (Israel Hayom)
• Rita at UN: I'll whistle my prayer to Iran - Persian-born Israeli singer rocks General Assembly hall in presence of UN secretary-general, ambassadors and even television crew from Tehran. (Ynet)
• How did Israel's Dakar submarine sink 45 years ago? Israel's archive is allowing the publication of 16 historic documents relating to the submarine's disappearance and the subsequent search operation, but the answers are not surfacing easily. (Haaretz and Israel Hayom)
• Locusts arrive in Tel Aviv, northern Israel - After swarms of grasshoppers swooped en masse on south, few manage to make way to center and even north of country. Ynet readers from all over country share their pictures. (Ynet)
• Israel declines in global tourism ranking - Report by World Economic Forum ranks Israel's tourism sector 53rd in world, down from 46th in 2011 and 36th in 2009. Israel finishes third in Middle East, behind UAE and Qatar.  Terrorism concerns and decreasing price competitiveness among reasons cited. (Israel Hayom)
• Pentagon: Israel's future fighter jet critically flawed -  Leaked Pentagon report reveals fatal F-35 fighter jet flaws; 'Unacceptable for combat or combat training,' says report; Israel to buy 25 jets for $238 million each. (Ynet)
• Angry Egyptian fans torch soccer federation - Blaze follows acquittal of seven of nine police officials on trial for their alleged role in a deadly stadium melee last year, while deaths sentences confirmed for 21 fans in the case. (Agencies, Haaretz)
• Syrian rebels release kidnapped UN peacekeepers to Jordan - Twenty-one Filipino UN workers cross safely from southern Syria, where they were held since being captured by rebels on Wednesday, to neighboring Jordan. (Agencies, Haaretz)

Features:

The man who could be U.K.'s first Jewish PM says he is a Zionist
Labor Party leader Ed Miliband establishes his pro-Israel credentials like never before by stating that while he doesn't always agree with its government, he is 'intolerant of those who question Israel's right to exist.' (Haaretz)

Commentary/Analysis:

Shame on us (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom) Shamefully, Jewish ruffians are openly and publicly attacking citizens whose only crime is that they are Arab. 
Obama's new approach to Mideast peace: Israel and Palestinians must lead, not the U.S. (Barak Ravid, Haaretz) Fed up with banging their heads against a wall, the Americans have sobered up over the influence they can have in Israeli-Palestinian talks − now they want the two sides to take action, rather than expecting the U.S. to take the reins. Expectations for President Obama's visit here have been adjusted accordingly.
Progress or explosion (Emanuel Rosen, Yedioth/Ynet) President Obama may as well postpone visit to region if he does not plan to advance peace process.
Taking to court Jewish and Arab parents who just wants their kids educated together (Haaretz Editorial) This latest lesson in politics another example of the Education Ministry's four-year war against any attempt to present Israel's complex face. Hopefully the indictment process will stop. 
UNICEF isn't anti-Semitic (Gideon Levy, Haaretz) UNICEF has published a report no less harsh, this time with respect to Israel's treatment of Palestinian children. Now, you can no longer say it was because of anti-Semitism.
Netanyahu must know that war with Iran won't just be a one-night stand (Amir Oren, Haaretz) There are many unknowns in the government equation, but one issue has been clarified: Benjamin Netanyahu has not lost his enthusiasm for launching a military operation against Iran's nuclear installations. 
There are worthy military judges in Israel, too (Chaim Levinson, Haaretz) Many Israelis accused of crimes would probably prefer to stand trial at Maj. Amir Dahan's military court in the West Bank than at certain Israeli civilian courts. 
How many rockets has Iron Dome really intercepted? (Reuven Pedatzur, Haaretz) While IDF figures put the Iron Dome missile defense system's success rate at 84 percent, three scientists claim the real figure could be much lower than that. 
Al-Qaida is not yet at Syria's gates (Amos Harel, Haaretz) Claims that al-Qaida has taken control of the border zone between Syria and Israel are a bit exaggerated; meanwhile, Assad and the rebels are locked in a stalemate.
Forced and divided government (Yakir Elkariv, Yedioth/Ynet) Lapid and Bennett's constant talk of 'values' and 'essence' giving PM Netanyahu a big headache.
For Netanyahu, Israel's new government will be born in sadness (Yossi Verter, Haaretz) On Saturday night the negotiating teams met for an all-night marathon. Agreements will probably be signed on Monday − unless a last-minute crisis breaks out.
The great portfolio shortage (Dan Margalit, Israel Hayom) Even without bringing in new faces, Netanyahu will have a headache when distributing ministerial portfolios.
Their blood has been let (Bambi Sheleg, Yedioth/Ynet) Wave of brutal attacks on Arabs indicative of failure to establish basic value system in State of Israel.
Soccer riots threatening to engulf Egypt (Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz) With two dead and violence intensifying around Egypt, it seems the trial surrounding the 'Port Said massacre' might become the catalyst that sends Egypt into a tailspin.
 

Prepared for APN by Orly Halpern, independent freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.