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:: Israel News Archive


 

Palestinian Authority Chair hopes for peace deal with Israel within a year

July 26, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he hopes to reach a peace deal with Israel within a year, after reportedly receiving a promise from U.S. President George W. Bush that he would push hard to complete a Mideast peace agreement before the end of his term in 2008…

Defense minister Ehud Barak to tie the knot

July 26, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • The Maariv newspaper reported Thursday that Ehud Barak (former Prime Minister and current Defense Minister), who got divorced four years ago, would marry Nili Priel on Friday in a small ceremony in Tel Aviv…

Bush aides play down meeting as Arabs push for final talks

July 24, 2007 – JTA News

  • It's a Miss Manners nightmare: an invitation with a gift registry but no set date – and not even a real promise of a wedding. President Bush's invitation to a meeting sometime in the fall to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has the region's Arab states scratching their heads…

Israel frees more than 250 prisoners

July 20, 2007 – MSNBC Online

  • Israel released more than 250 Palestinian prisoners Friday, aiming to bolster embattled President Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last month…

'Home front was abandoned during war'

July 18, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • "The management of the home front during the war was severely defective [and] the country's leaders … neglected the home front that was under severe attack since the first day of the war," according to a report released Wednesday by State Comptroller…

Harry Potter and the Order of Shabbat

July 18, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • The deputy prime minister and minister of industry, trade and employment, Eli Yishai (Shas), opposes the launch of the new book in the "Harry Potter" series on Friday night…

At rally to free Israeli soldiers, speakers take aim at U.N.

July 17, 2007 – JTA News

  • Thousands of demonstrators showed up for a rally organized by Jewish organizations to call for the release of three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hamas and Hezbollah last summer…

IDF deputy chief: Summer war with Syria not likely

July 11, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Deputy Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Kaplinsky said Wednesday that that he does not believe the IDF will go to war with Syria this summer, contrary to past estimates…

Netanyahu lashes out at Ehud Barak

July 10, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu unleashed a fierce attack on his main competition in the next general election, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, on Tuesday, blaming the Second Lebanon War on Barak's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon…

Is two-state solution viable? Shake-up alters thinking

July 9, 2007 – JTA News

  • For years the "two-state solution," envisioning Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, has been the almost exclusive formula for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the Hamas takeover of Gaza last month is challenging conventional wisdom…

Lebanon war one year later: Was it Israel's wake-up call?

July 3, 2007 – JTA News

  • One year after the Second Lebanon War, Israel's northern front is quiet, United Nations forces are patrolling the border area and Hezbollah fighters have been pushed back deep inside Lebanese territory…

Former Israel President Moshe Katzav to be indicted next week

July 2, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • The indictment against former president Moshe Katsav will be served at the earliest next week, after the High Court of Justice acceded to the state prosecutor's request to postpone responces to the petitions opposing the plea bargain Katsav signed…

Murky Palestinian future complicates ties with Israel

July 1, 2007 – JTA News

  • Two weeks after the Palestinian political map was redrawn following Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza, the uncertain future of the Palestinian polity is complicating Israel's plans to forge new ties with the Palestinian Authority…

Abbas dissolves Palestinian gov't, declares state of emergency

June 14, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas decided Thursday to declare a state of emergency and to dissolve the Hamas-Fatah coalititon government, following Hamas' almost-complete takeover in the Gaza Strip…

Israel won't cut water to 'Hamastan'

June 14, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Israel will not turn off the water supply to Gaza even if Hamas takes complete control of the Gaza Strip, a senior government official said Wednesday night…

Peres takes the presidency, Barak makes a comeback

June 13, 2007 – JTA News

  • Call Ehud Barak at age 65 "the comeback kid" and Shimon Peres "Mr. President." The two former Israeli prime ministers picked up important victories on successive days…

New panel to discuss IDF operations in case of war with Syria

June 6, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • The security cabinet decided Wednesday on the establishment of a ministerial forum, made up of 11 ministers, which would discuss the security threat posed by Syria. This forum will be briefed by the Israel Defense Forces on the army's operational plans to prepare for a possible conflict with Syria…

On the seventh day

June 6, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • An Arab sword of Damocles hung over Israel's neck in June 1967, and so perilous was its blade that foreign capitals spoke chillingly of the country's imminent slaughter…

Special Features

May 31, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Pictures from Israel…

Olmert exploring third-party talks with Damascus

May 31, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is exploring, via a third party, the possibility of resuming peace talks with Syria. A government source said there was no direct contact between Israeli and Syrian officials, "but a very serious assessment is underway."…

[Six Day] War put Israel on communal map for a proud American Jewry

May 30, 2007 – JTA News

  • Honey Stollman remembers being glued to the radio in June 1967 as the momentous events of the Six-Day War unfolded. Then a blackout brought the news reports to a grinding halt…

Mood of Six-Day War film more somber than euphoric

May 29, 2007 – JTA News

  • Is there a middle-aged Jew alive who doesn't remember the euphoric days of June 1967, when the caricature of the cringing, defenseless Jew was destroyed forever, when American Jews suddenly stood taller, when Israel taught the Arabs a lesson they would never forget?...

Israel: Iran not at 'industrial level'

May 24, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Iran's uranium enrichment program has undergone notable advances, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday, warning for the first time that its knowledge of Teheran's nuclear activities was shrinking…

50,000 Israelis going abroad for the Shavuot holiday

May 23, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Some 50,000 Israelis are expected to travel abroad for the Shavuot holiday, stretching it into a long weekend, travel agents say. Many people are taking advantage of a favorable exchange rate to visit the U.S. and Turkey, [along with] European spots such as Italy, Paris, and London…

In stemming rocket fire, a call for radical changes

May 21, 2007 – JTA News

  • More than a week of unabated Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot has created a huge policy dilemma for the Israeli government: What should it do to stop radical Gaza-based militiamen from firing missiles on Israeli civilians and causing pandemonium in the border town of 22,000?...

Analysis: What a Palestinian Authority collapse would mean for Israel

May 18, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • When the security cabinet meets Sunday, one hopes that beyond dealing with the very acute problem of how to reduce the rocket attacks on Sderot, it will also take up the issue of how Israel will react if the Palestinian Authority collapses…

Fatah, Hamas trade blame as Gaza violence continues for sixth day

May 18, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Warring Palestinian factions traded accusations Friday as gunbattles between the two sides continued in the Gaza Strip for the sixth day, with Hamas branding Fatah members traitors, and Fatah saying that Hamas had no intention of abiding by a cease-fire…

Israel fights back as Hamas rockets hit Sderot

May 16, 2007 – JTA News

  • After days of holding its fire while Hamas battled rival Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and fired rockets over the border, Israel is fighting back…

Jerusalem eternally united? The reality often falls short

May 15, 2007 – JTA News

  • The group of Jerusalemites tumbles off the tour bus onto streets and hilltops where most of them have never set foot. They are in eastern Jerusalem, home to some 150,000 Arabs and, for most on the tour, an entirely new world…

About to choose a new leader, Labor finds it's relevant again

May 15, 2007 – JTA News

  • With the Labor leadership primary less than two weeks away, it's becoming increasingly clear that the party's next leader will decide the future of Ehud Olmert's government…

Booming Israeli biotech business is on the hunt for local investors

May 14, 2007 – JTA News

  • Israel's life-sciences field is growing so rapidly that even industry trackers are having a tough time keeping up with the number of startups. Of the approximately 750 Israeli companies in the field, nearly three-quarters were founded in the past 10 years…

Roughly 100,000 people rally in Tel Aviv to call on Olmert & Peretz to quit

May 3, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • More than 100,000 people rallied in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Thursday, in the first national protest calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to resign over the damning Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War…

Reservist's mother contacts Hizbullah

May 3, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • The mother of captured soldier Ehud Goldwasser, 32, learned Wednesday that a letter she sent to Hizbullah had reached one of its spiritual leaders, Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah…

Olmert's grip seen slipping after foreign minister's challenge

May 2, 2007 – JTA News

  • Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the prime minister's most popular deputy, caused an uproar Wednesday by calling on him to quit over a commission of inquiry that faulted his handling of last year's Lebanon war…

Kadima in ferment after Winograd report

May 1, 2007 – The Jerusalem Report

  • Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was critically injured by the interim Winograd Report released Monday and has no chance of surviving the final report expected in July, a senior Kadima official said on Monday…

Thousands of youth turn out in Tel Aviv to mark May Day

May 1, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Some 4,000 members of Israeli socialist youth groups turned out in Tel Aviv on Tuesday for a march to mark May Day. The marchers set off from Rabin Square for the plaza outside Tel Aviv Museum…

Report finds leaders failed, but question is: Now what?

April 30, 2007 – JTA News

  • With "failure" officially stamped on Ehud Olmert's management of last summer's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the question is: What happens now? The Israeli public, deeply critical and hungry for blame, may yet stop short of ousting the unpopular prime minister because of a lack of alternatives…

Bishara suspected of aiding Hizbullah

April 25, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • MK Azmi Bishara is suspected of having aided Israel's enemies during the Second Lebanon War. The information came to light after the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court partially lifted the gag order that was imposed on the case since Bishara left Israel…

Israeli Teen's Zionism is showing Diaspora mates his Israel

April 25, 2007 – JTA News

  • I always knew that before my army duty I would like to do a year of community service, I just didn't know where. At the end of the 11th grade, while visiting the United States with a delegation from the Israeli Scouts youth movement Tzofim, I became exposed to the subject of Diaspora Jewry…

Hamas' motivation: Renewed force, renewed truce

April 25, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Hamas is under heavy pressure from the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service in the West Bank, and therefore, it resumed rocket and mortar fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip…

Olmert blasts rabbi's remarks blaming Reform for Holocaust

April 19, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday condemned as "hurtful" and "spurious" comments made by former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu that the victims of the Holocaust were made to suffer because of the sins of the Reform Movement…

Abdullah urges Israel to accept Saudi initiative as basis for talks

April 19, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Jordan's King Abdullah said Thursday that Israel must accept the Saudi peace initiative as a basis for peace negotiations with the Palestinians. "Israel must adopt the Arab plan as a foundation for negotiations, and mustn't miss this opportunity to be recognized by all the area states," Abdullah said Thursday…

Israeli professor is among dead in Virginia shooting

April 17, 2007 – JTA News

  • Among the 32 fatalities in the massacre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute was Liviu Librescu, a Romanian-born Holocaust survivor and professor in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department. Librescu, 76, who made aliyah to Israel in 1978, was killed on Yom Hashoah…

Reform Jews blast Rabbi Eliyahu for Shoah remarks

April 17, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • The executive director of Arza, the Reform Movement's Zionist arm, called on the Chief Rabbinate Tuesday to chastise Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu for blaming the Holocaust on Reform German Jews…

IDF kills Al Aksa operative near Jenin

April 17, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Undercover Border Police troops shot and killed an Aksa Martyrs Brigades operative Tuesday near Jenin, the IDF and Palestinian security said…

Prime Minister Olmert ready to talk to Abbas about statehood issues
April 13, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is ready to begin discussing with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday the legal, economic and governmental structures of a future Palestinian state, Olmert's office said…

Possible Hamas split worries Israel
April 12, 2007 – The Jerusalem

  • Post As negotiations over the release of Cpl. Gilad Schalit appeared to enter their final lap this week, grave concern was expressed within the Israeli defense establishment on Wednesday over the growing rift within Hamas, which officials warned could jeopardize the deal and future contacts with the Palestinian Authority…

Debate over Arab museum on the Holocaust intensifies
April 11, 2007 – JTA News

  • Amin Abu Lashin was intrigued and bewildered when he heard from his teacher that an Arab would care enough about the Holocaust to establish a museum to educate other Arabs about the Jewish tragedy...

UN may order aid workers out of Gaza

April 6, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday expressed fear that the United Nations may formally declare the Gaza Strip a dangerous zone - a move that would result in the evacuation of the remaining foreign nationals from the area and drastically hamper international humanitarian aid to the Palestinians…

IDF shoots from border into Lebanon

April 4, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • IDF troops shot at suspicious shadows moving near the fence on the Israel-Lebanon border for the first time since the ceasefire between Israel and Hizbullah on August 14 2006…

The Olmert paradox

April 4, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Prime Minister Ehud Olmert afforded us useful insight during the holiday. For $2,500 a month, he said, he could turn the talkback balance to his favor. A "professional group" offered their services to him, but he refused because he did not want to pay people to write good things about him…

With two bold new actions, settler movement bouncing back

April 2, 2007 – JTA News

  • Jewish settlers and their supporters by the hundreds climbed up six miles of winding road, their path lined with a mix of wildflowers and Israeli army jeeps and armored personnel carriers…

Fight to see report on BBC bias reaches Britain's highest court

April 2, 2007 – JTA News

  • One lawyer's attempt to force the BBC to release a report into the broadcaster's reporting bias against Israel has reached Britain's High Court. London lawyer Steven Sugar requested the release last year of findings from an internal inquiry after he reviewed hundreds of hours of BBC tapes…

Pelosi in Israel touts security through strength, diplomacy

April 1, 2007 – JTA News

  • In the Middle East for the second time since becoming speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Pelosi brought a counterweight to President Bush's approach to the region, saying diplomacy and not just force is necessary to confront the troublemakers…

Arabs urge Israel to accept peace deal

March 29, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Arab leaders on Thursday called on Israel to accept their land-for-peace offer and open direct negotiations with the Arabs, hoping to give a new push to the long-stalled Mideast peace process…

Lyrics: The Haggadah. Music: Rap

March 29, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • What is it about Passover that causes such great discomfort and how can reading the Haggadah become relevant for adults and children alike? The discussions initiated by the Jewish leadership program Tehuda took place in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Yerucham, Mazkeret Batya and Moshav Ram On…

Israel gives in on 'road map' to grease wheels of peace push

March 27, 2007 – JTA News

  • U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ended her fourth Middle East shuttle in four months without announcing the dramatic breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks she had planned…

Gaza compensation costs keep on growing

March 27, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • The price of the Gaza pullout is still increasing, and is expected to have a significant effect on the 2007 budget…

Israelis fire back at Egypt over claims of war atrocities

March 25, 2007 – JTA News        

  • For more than 30 years they kept to themselves. But accounts by former Israeli prisoners of war have been resurfacing of late, largely in retaliation to a flurry of atrocity allegations from Egypt…

Giving a name to Lebanon war, Israel hopes to soothe bereaved

March 22, 2007 – JTA News

  • After months of equivocation, Israel has formally recognized last year's offensive against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas as a war and [have called it the] "Second Lebanon War"…

Israeli quandary over Sudanese: Let them stay or send them away

March 22, 2007 – JTA News

  • With two miles of bare footprints behind them, Ahmed and Fatima, and their three children, approached the border with Israel. Avoid the Egyptian military patrols, they were warned by their Bedouin smugglers, whom they paid with money borrowed from Sudanese friends…

Report: Refinery struck during war

March 22, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Almost eight months after the war in Lebanon came to an end, police lifted a gag order Thursday and said that during the fighting, a rocket fired by Hizbullah landed in a Haifa chemical refinery…

Peres to Winograd panel: I would not have gone to war in Lebanon

March 22, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Vice Premier Shimon Peres told the Winograd Committee investigating the Second Lebanon War that he would not have gone to war in Lebanon in response to the abduction of Israel Defense Forces soldiers by Hezbollah…

The John Doe war

March 20, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • There is something disturbing and sad in the extended discussion over a name of the second Lebanon war, and in the very issue of its definition…

Pre-army teens get joint lesson in life from Aharai

March 20, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • A group of teenagers assemble at the entrance to a Jaffa community center. It might seem an unlikely gathering since it comprises Muslims, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Jews from veteran Israeli families. But they are not so very different…

Will Olmert survive? Pressure against him builds

March 19, 2007 – JTA News

  • With a government commission of inquiry into the war in Lebanon about to issue its findings and challenges to his leadership mounting, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is fighting for his political life…

'Israel will not deal with the Palestinian unity government'

March 15, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Rivals Hamas and Fatah formed a long-elusive Palestinian Authority unity government Thursday, hoping to lead the Palestinians out of international isolation, but were immediately rebuffed by Israel which said it would not deal with the new coalition…

U.S. failed to give Israel all drafts of UN Resolution to end Lebanon war

March 15, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • The U.S. government failed to give Israel all the drafts of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended last summer's Lebanon war, in real time, so Israel had to obtain some of the documents from other sources…

UN to open permanent probe on Israel

March 13, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • The United Nation's Human Rights Council is expected to place Israel under permanent investigation for its "violations" of international law in the territories according to Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch…

7 hours in the Jordan Valley

March 13, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • When the Jordan Valley isn't enveloped by scorching summer heat, the area offers some incredibly lovely vistas. The hills of the land of dates and bananas are covered in soft green and a drive along the border with Jordan is both beautiful and intriguing…

With comments on Saudi plan, Olmert ignites hope for peace

March 12, 2007 – JTA News

  • Few observers expected much to emerge from the March 11 summit between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But just hours before the meeting, Olmert dropped a bombshell that took even members of his own Cabinet by surprise…

From challah to matzah, rebbetzin aids Jerusalem poor

March 8, 2007 – JTA News

  • On a quiet, little-known street in one of Jerusalem's poorer neighborhoods, the line on Fridays begins to form as early as 6 a.m. outside the home of Bracha Kapach…

Prime Minister Olmert: War planned months in advance

March 8, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Winograd Commission that his decision to respond to the abduction of soldiers with a broad military operation was made as early as March 2006, four months before last summer's Lebanon war broke out…

Steinitz 'surprised' by Prime Minister's remarks

March 8, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Likud MK Yuval Steinitz said Thursday afternoon that he was "surprised" by reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had told the Winograd Commission that the decision on the summer's Lebanon war had been made months in advance…

Hollywood eager to provide Israeli TV Show 'Treatment' to American viewers

March 6, 2007 – JTA News

  • Some big names in Hollywood can't curb their enthusiam for a smash Israeli television series they are adapting for HBO. "In Treatment," or "B’tipul" in Hebrew, is an intense, offbeat drama based on an unlikely concept for TV…

HMO data: Lebanon war led to baby boom

March 6, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • For some the rocket barrages of last summer's war trapped people inside, for others weekends home were particulary poignant for weary fighters and their partners. The war, in short, triggered a baby boom…

Response to controversial Egyptian film: We never killed Egyptian POWs

March 6, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • The claim that soldiers from the Shaked Battalion killed unarmed Egyptian prisoners at the end of the Six Day War "is a lie," a former member of the unit, Yehuda Melamed, said Monday…

Israel's Eurovision entry stirs pop contest controversy

March 5, 2007 – JTA News

  • It may be the ultimate in forgettable mass-communications kitsch, but the Eurovision Song Contest has special resonance for many Israelis. Yet Israel's entry for the 2007 songfest has triggered controversy for lyrics that seem to touch on the most combustible of current crises – Iran's nuclear program…

Israel's liaison to its neighbors: Saudi Prince Bandar

March 2, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • The key figure in Middle Eastern diplomacy is Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi Arabian National Security Adviser. Bandar is the man behind the Mecca agreement between Fatah and Hamas for the establishment of a Palestinian unity government…

Syria ups army infrastructure on border

March 2, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • Syria has spent the past few months constructing and moving infrastructure to its southern border that could be used to launch a war against Israel, senior defense officials have told The Jerusalem Post…

As a capitalist economy grows, so does a chasm between classes

February 28, 2007 – JTA News

  • In a shimmering luxury hotel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Israel’s banking and financial elite mingled over cocktails recently with foreign investors as they watched Donald Trump on a live telecast praise the strength of the Israeli market…

Lieberman: We are capable of facing the Iranian threat alone

February 28, 2007 – The Jerusalem Post

  • "This government is doing more than any other government to deal with the Iranian nuclear issue. Even if we will have to face the Iranian threat alone, we will be able to," Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman told members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday…

Instant Purim – An Israeli holiday made in China

February 28, 2007 – Haaretz Daily

  • In fifth grade, when my friend and I dressed up as ghostbusters [for Purim], we found two large jerricans that we spray-painted yellow. Then we attached them to shoulder harnesses and screwed black plastic pipes into the openings of the cans…