* Israel tells U.S. administration it is angered by leak to New York Times: Israeli officials on Thursday, expressed their anger at a report in the New York Times, quoting U.S. sources, that Israel was responsible for an assassination in Tehran earlier in the week. The Israeli officials described the leak as a breach of trust between Jerusalem and Washington, who cooperate closely in matters of security and intelligence, and warned that Israelis may be put at risk of Iranian vengeance. (Yediot Aharonot, Haaretz)
* Israel rejects U.S. ask to amend Flag March route: Israeli officials rejected a request by the U.S. Ambassador Thomas Nides to amend the route of the controversial Flag March so that it avoids the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. The March will take place on Sunday, on the occasion of Jerusalem Day. (Yediot Aharonot, Haaretz)
* Israeli Ministers Plan Budget Cuts for ultra-Orthodox to Negotiate for Coalition Support: Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman have agreed to take a number of economic measures that will affect the ultra-Orthodox community in the national budget, in an attempt to drive Haredi lawmakers to support coalition legislation in return for overturning those measures, as the coalition no longer has a Knesset majority. The two ministers plan to introduce the cuts in the annual budget presented to the cabinet in June as a show of their sincerity on the matter, and then to hold negotiations with Haredi lawmakers to cancel the measures ahead of the Knesset vote. (Haaretz)
* Meta Refuses to Block Facebook Page That Israeli Court Says Incites Terror: Meta, the company that operates Facebook, turned down a request by the Israeli government last month to block a Facebook page belonging to a group it says is "clearly linked to Hamas." A Tel Aviv District Court issued an order blocking the group’s page just in April, but the U.S. company declined to comply. Justice Ministry sources said Meta justified the decision on the grounds that it found no basis for the claims made against the organization to whom the page belongs. The company said there was no legal provision that requires it to block the page.
* Palestinian officials: Israel killed Al Jazeera reporter: The Palestinian Authority on Thursday said its investigation into the shooting death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh proves she was deliberately killed by Israeli forces. Defense Minister Benny Gantz said late on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority’s investigation claiming Israel is responsible for the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh is a crude and blatant lie. (Yediot Aharonot, Haaretz)
