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NEWS ABOUT: Israel

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US: Israeli Exercise Was Dry Run for Iran Strike

Israel 'ready' to hit Iran's nuke facilities if talks fail

(Newser) - A recent Israeli exercise looked to US officials very much like a rehearsal for a strike on Iran, the New York Times reports.  The Pentagon also believes the massive exercise in the first week of June, involving over a hundred fighter jets, was a message to the world that... More »

Gaza Truce Takes Hold

Skeptics wary of future of the ceasefire

(AP) - Guns went quiet as a six-month truce between Israel and Gaza Strip militants took effect early today, despite widespread skepticism about its longevity. If the quiet holds, Israel will ease its blockade on Sunday to allow larger shipments of some supplies. A week later Israel is to further ease restrictions... More »

Israel Invites Lebanon to Talks

Disputed sliver along border on table; offer follows Rice visit to region

(Newser) - Israel today invited the Lebanese government to direct negotiations, adding that it would be willing to discuss all issues, including a long-disputed area along their border, the New York Times reports. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visited both nations earlier this week, is attempting to use negotiation over... More »

Israel, Hamas Agree to Begin Ceasefire Thursday

But Jerusalem waiting to see if it's 'serious'

(Newser) - Israel has reached a tentative truce with Hamas, brokered by Egypt, the BBC and AP report. Starting Thursday, the two sides will begin a “mutual and simultaneous calm,” in which militants will theoretically stop their daily cross-border rocket bombardments, and Israel will in turn cease its military raids.... More »

New Israeli Settlements Have 'Negative Effect': Rice

She warns against building 1,300 new units in Jerusalem

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice said today that Israeli settlement building is having a “negative effect” on Mideast peace talks, the AP reports. “It’s important to have an atmosphere of confidence and trust,” she said at a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She warned against Israel’s... More »

Gadhafi Has a Little Advice for Obama

Libyan leader slams candidate for speech on Israel

(Newser) - Muammar Gadhafi shot off his infamously intemperate mouth at Barack Obama yesterday, berating the candidate for saying Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel, and suggesting that he might have an inferiority complex because of his African origins. Either the candidate is ignorant of international politics, the Libyan leader... More »

Abbas Calls for Renewed Talks With Hamas

About-face signals frustration with Bush-led peace talks

(Newser) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered an unexpected olive branch to Hamas yesterday, reports the New York Times. Abbas, in control of only the West Bank since the Islamic militant group seized Gaza last year, said it was time for national unity talks aimed at forming a new government. The move... More »

Israel Still Struggles With Meaning of, Path to 'Normal'

Can the Jewish state ever be just a country among countries? Does it want to be?

(Newser) - Even as Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, the Jewish state’s lifelong pursuit of normalcy has David Hazony wondering, in the New Republic, if such a thing is possible or desired. Piquing Hazony's interest was the government's recent hiring of a PR firm to build a “narrative of normalcy,... More »

Obama: Israel's Security Is Sacrosanct

Candidate shores up Jewish support with post-primary speech

(Newser) - Less than 24 hours after securing the Dem nomination, Barack Obama moved to shore up his support among Jewish voters this morning, pledging before a pro-Israel lobby his unequivocal support of Israel. “Those who threaten Israel threaten us,” he told the AIPAC. “I will never compromise when... More »

Mideast Peace Initiatives Dodge US Disapproval

America on the bench as region works itself out

(Newser) - Middle East nations are moving to resolve their conflicts without, and often in defiance of, Washington, write Hussein Agha and Robert Malley in the New York Times. Israel is in peace talks with both Hamas and Syria, and Lebanon has reached political reconciliation after a near civil war. All three... More »

Israel-Hezbollah Swap May Signal Progress

Exchange could foreshadow more controversial deals

(Newser) - The weekend swap of a Hezbollah spy for the remains of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers has whipped up speculation about the release of more Lebanese prisoners, the Independent reports. Although Israel denied the return of the remains was negotiated, the German foreign minister has been facilitating talks between the parties,... More »

Israel Returns Hezbollah Spy

Prisoner swap may be under way with Lebanon

(Newser) - Israel returned a Hezbollah spy to Lebanon today and may have started a prisoner exchange, BBC reports. Hezbollah quickly handed over the bodies of Israeli troops killed in 2006, but officials on both sides deny a swap is under way. Secret talks clearly are, perhaps aided by German mediators; a... More »

US Axes Fulbrights for 8 Palestinians

Israel won't let the students leave Gaza to study abroad

(Newser) - Eight Palestinians have had their Fulbright scholarships taken away because Israel won't grant them visas to leave the Gaza Strip, reports the New York Times. Israel has isolated Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory last year. The State Department has allocated the prestigious scholarships to students the West... More »

Preconditions or Not, Iran Doesn't Want to Talk to Us

US misunderstanding of split personality hinders any progress

(Newser) - Barack Obama can berate President Bush for refusing to "sit down with" Iran, and John McCain can beat up Obama for proposing to do just that, but the fact is that every administration in the past 30 years has tried talking to Iran—without preconditions—and been rejected. Including... More »

Rogue al-Qaeda Backers Call for Nuke Attack in Online Video

But no evidence of specific plot, says FBI

(Newser) - Al-Qaeda supporters will use an Internet video to call for the use of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in a new attack on civilians in the West, reports ABC News. FBI officials have alerted US law enforcement of the tape, said a spokesman, but emphasized that there is no evidence... More »

Barak Calls for Olmert to Quit

Threatens to leave gov't coalition; US businessman says he gave PM wads of cash

(Newser) - Israel's defense minister told Ehud Olmert to take a leave of absence or step down while he battles corruption charges, reports the BBC, and threatened to leave the country's governing coalition if he refused. "The prime minister needs to disconnect himself from the day-to-day management of the government,"... More »

Distracted US Finds Mideast Clout Waning

With clock ticking on Bush administration, hard-line tactics fail

(Newser) - The Bush Administration's problems are hardly confined to abysmal domestic approval ratings, writes veteran Reuters journalist Jonathan Wright. Middle Eastern leaders are paying less and less attention to the lame-duck president, who spoke of the need to isolate Hamas during a visit to Egypt last week—even as his host... More »

Obama Pledges Support for Israel to Fla. Jews

Seeks support in Jewish community

(Newser) - Barack Obama sought to quell skepticism about him in the Jewish community yesterday by addressing a tough audience of older Jewish voters in a Conservative synagogue in Boca Raton, Florida. He asked the audience not to judge him by his 'funny name' or his skin color, to ignore the erroneous... More »

Why Obama Has a Jewish Problem

Misinformation, prejudice swirl in Florida

(Newser) - Why are Jews—especially older Jews, a traditionally liberal Democratic demographic with high voter turnout—reluctant to embrace Barack Obama? The New York Times took the question to Florida’s Jewish voters, who make up 5% of the critical swing state. What they found: Obama has become "a conduit... More »

Israel Confirms Peace Talks With Syria

Olmert ready to give up Golan; Israelis may disapprove

(Newser) - Israel and Syria have been holding secret peace talks, with Turkey as the middleman, the two sides announced today, acknowledging for the first time the long-rumored negotiations. Syria is technically at war with Israel over the Golan Heights, which the Israelis seized in 1967. Israel is ready to give the... More »

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