Ehud Olmert

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>

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...

Bush Arrives in Israel to Press for Peace

Skepticism surrounds his efforts as weakened Olmert faces possible ouster

(Newser) - President Bush arrived in Israel today to celebrate the Jewish state’s 60th birthday and try again to spur peace talks with Palestine. Ehud Olmert says he and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have reached an understanding on several key points, but Olmert is embroiled in a corruption scandal, and could...

I Took Cash, No Bribes: Olmert

Vows to resign if indicted

(Newser) - Ehud Olmert resisted calls for his resignation today, after admitting on national TV last night that he accepted contributions from a New York businessman—but denying that any of it was a bribe. Olmert, under criminal investigation for allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Long Island millionaire Morris...

Police Probe of Olmert Plagues Rice Peace Trip

Investigation could trip up peace deal Rice calls 'achievable'

(Newser) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's talks in Jerusalem yesterday to bolster the Mideast peace process were overshadowed by an intensifying police investigation into activities by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, reports the New York Times. A court gag order is keeping investigation details under wraps, but observers indicate the probe...

Israel Would Leave Golan: Syria
 Israel Would Leave Golan: Syria 

Israel Would Leave Golan: Syria

Israelis willing to trade disputed territory for peace, Damascus told

(Newser) - Israel is willing to return the Golan Heights to Syria in return for peace, Reuters reports. A Syrian minister said in a TV interview that the Israeli message was relayed through Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, set to visit Syria this weekend. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week he...

Israel Won't Help Protect Carter
Israel Won't Help Protect Carter

Israel Won't Help Protect Carter

Stonewalling by Olmert's security force 'unprecedented' breach: Secret Service

(Newser) - Israeli leaders won’t meet with Jimmy Carter, and Israeli security won’t help protect him on his trip through the country, Reuters reports. As Israel’s Shin Bet and the Secret Service sparred over whether the Americans asked for help, a source called the security snub “unprecedented.”...

Israel Pledges to Pull 50 West Bank Roadblocks

Rice hails deal, but Palestine officials are skeptical

(Newser) - Pressured by Condoleezza Rice to kickstart flagging peace talks, Israel pledged to remove about 50 roadblocks from the West Bank—the first in a series of “concrete steps” to finalize a deal, Al Jazeera reports. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad hailed the news despite skepticism from other officials. “...

US 'Will Never Pressure Israel' on Security: VP

Hamas calls Cheney 'biased' during Jerusalem visit

(Newser) - The US supports recent Israeli strikes on Palestine and "will never pressure Israel to take steps that threaten its security," Dick Cheney said in Jerusalem today. On a trip to spur stalled peace talks, Cheney is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leaders this weekend. A...

German Press Criticizes Merkel's Palestinian Snub

Papers praise leader's Holocaust treatment, but level accusations of bias

(Newser) - The German press is praising Chancellor Angela Merkel’s historic visit to Israel and her diplomatic handling of the two countries' shared history, Der Spiegel reports. But Merkel has also been chastised by commentators who feel her focus on German-Israeli unity in remarks yesterday to Israel's parliament gives the impression...

Merkel Holds Cabinet Meeting in Jerusalem

German celebrates Israeli statehood with 3-day trip

(Newser) - When Angela Merkel holds her weekly cabinet meeting today, it will meet not in Berlin but in Jerusalem—a special gesture to mark the 60th anniversary of Israeli statehood. Only a few decades ago Israelis marched in protest when the country welcomed its first German ambassador, but now the chancellor...

Israel Scales Back Gaza Offensive
Israel Scales Back Gaza Offensive

Israel Scales Back Gaza Offensive

Hamas rocket attacks slow, but Israelis say fighting isn't over

(Newser) - Israel is reining in its Gaza offensive after seeing a big reduction in cross-border rocket fire over the weekend, the BBC reports. But Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said there was no truce in place. “The fighting is ongoing and will at times increase or decrease,” he said,...

Israel Approves New West Bank Homes
Israel Approves New
West Bank Homes

Israel Approves New West Bank Homes

Construction will 'undermine peace talks,' Palestinians warn

(Newser) - Israel has approved plans to begin or complete 750 new homes in the occupied West Bank, posing yet another hurdle to the success of US-brokered Mideast peace talks, Reuters reports. Palestinian leaders immediately condemned the new construction in the Jewish settlement of Givat Ze'ev near Jerusalem. "This will undermine...

Abbas Rebuffs Rice on Talks
Abbas Rebuffs Rice on Talks

Abbas Rebuffs Rice on Talks

Rice urges Abbas: don't let extremists win

(Newser) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to commit to resuming peace talks with Israel yesterday despite entreaties from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the New York Times reports. "I call on the Israeli government to halt its aggression so the necessary environment can be created to make negotiations succeed,"...

Abbas Freezes Peace Talks With Israel

Says negotiations won't resume until offensive on Palestinians ends

(Newser) - Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas halted peace talks with Israel today “until [Israeli] aggression is stopped,” Reuters reports. Abbas ordered the suspension of the US-brokered talks as Israel’s Gaza offensive continued and the Palestinian death toll topped 100. But Israeli PM Ehud Olmert showed no sign of relenting,...

Israel Vows to Press Offensive
Israel Vows to Press Offensive

Israel Vows to Press Offensive

Five more killed in strike on Hamas prime minister's offices

(Newser) - In the face of blistering UN condemnation, defiant Israeli officials vowed to continue the Gaza offensive as five more people were killed in an air strike on the offices of the Hamas prime minister today. "Israel has no intention of stopping the fight against the terrorist organizations even for...

Israel Pounds Hamas Targets in Gaza Strip
Israel Pounds Hamas Targets in Gaza Strip
UPDATED

Israel Pounds Hamas Targets in Gaza Strip

Rice voices concern after retaliatory strikes kill militants, baby

(Newser) - Israel hit targets inside the Gaza Strip today, including an apparent warning attack near the Hamas PM's home, after a rocket killed an Israeli student, Reuters reports. Two days of violence have left 17 Palestinians dead, including a 6-month-old baby who died when a strike on a Hamas-run ministry damaged...

Ariel Sharon Turns 80 in Coma
Ariel Sharon
Turns 80 in Coma

Ariel Sharon Turns 80 in Coma

No change in former Israeli PM's condition, doctors not optimistic

(Newser) - Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon turned 80 yesterday, still in a coma from a massive stroke in January 2006. Family members gathered at the hospital to mark the occasion, the Jerusalem Post reports. Among them was his eldest son, Omri, due to start a seven-month jail sentence today for...

Peace Talks Snag on Jerusalem
Peace Talks Snag
on Jerusalem

Peace Talks Snag on Jerusalem

Palestinians want to discuss issue Israelis say isn't on the table

(Newser) - Peace talks between Israel and Palestinians were set to resume today as leaders were already entangled in a first major clash: over whether or not they agreed that Jerusalem would be part of the discussion. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has claimed the Palestinians agreed to put off discussing Jerusalem....

E. Jerusalem Settlements Rile Palestinians

New Israeli housing in future capital creates controversy

(Newser) - The contentious issue of post-Annapolis Israeli settlement has flared up again after the government began construction of hundreds of new homes in East Jerusalem, the putative capital of an independent Palestine. Although PM Ehud Olmert has frozen construction of new homes in the West Bank, the housing minister said today...

Peace Deal Unlikely This Year: Israel

Minister sets sights on 'declaration' with Palestine

(Newser) - Israel and Palestine probably won't sign a peace deal this year but could agree on a "declaration of principles," a top Israeli minister said today. The announcement by Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon follows weeks of warnings that a peace treaty could topple Israeli's coalition government, and that...

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>