Trailing badly in the latest polls, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s campaign for re-election has charged opponent Ariel Sharon with sparking the recent Palestinian intifada, contradicting his government’s official position to the outside world.
In perhaps the largest Jewish gathering in the city’s history, a massive crowd estimated at well over 300,000 people filled the streets around the Old City of Jerusalem on Monday night, waving flags and signs in a display of Jewish loyalty to a united city under Israeli rule.
An Arab reporter for the Hebrew-language newspaper YERUSHALAYIM recently reviewed the plans of the Palestinian Authority should Israel cede control over east Jerusalem, which includes a plot to flood the city with Palestinian refugees.
The campaign financing scandal from the 1999 elections continues to haunt Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at an inopportune time.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud BaraK today said the Red Cross will visit the three IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hizb’Allah on Saturday along the Lebanese border.
Caretaker Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and challenger Likud leader Ariel Sharon are beginning to gear up for the special election for the premiership on February 6, a race that promises to be impassioned and gritty.
Outgoing US President Bill Clinton’s hasty drive to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by January 20 sputtered again on Thursday when Arab foreign ministers enshrined the Palestinian right of return as “sacred.” The decision reinforces PLO chief Yasser Arafat’s hard-line stand on an issue Clinton’s “outline” for peace requires him to compromise and calls into question Washington’s claim Arafat has said “yes” to the president’s plan.
Adopting unusual language, Iran has issued a warning that if Israel were to attack Syria or Lebanon in reaction to Hizb’Allah cross-border actions, Tehran would retaliate in an “astounding and unexpected” way.
Resurgent Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein presided on Sunday over a massive military parade in Baghdad under the name of the “Al-Aqsa Call” and intended to show support for the Palestinian uprising.
The Israeli government reversed its stand at the last minute and decided on Sunday night to sign a charter establishing the International Criminal Court to try individuals for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has reacted sharply to a private opinion letter from Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein leaked to the press in which the government’s chief lawyer makes an impassioned case that Barak has no moral authority to pursue a hasty, election-eve peace deal with the Palestinians.
The renewed Palestinian intifada appears headed towards a new spiral of violence, as armed Palestinian factions are vowing to revenge Israeli hits on militia commanders and Fatah attempts to mark the anniversary of its founding. Meanwhile, Israelis are trying to act with restraint following the murder of a Jewish hard-liner on Sunday morning and yet another terrorist bombing inside Israel yesterday.
US President Bill Clinton’s hopes of brokering a last-minute, face-saving peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is hanging by a thread as he prepares to meet with PLO chief Yasser Arafat on Tuesday in Washington. In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak all but threw in the towel today, suspending all contacts with the Palestinians and tightening an IDF closure on PA areas following a terrorist car bombing in Netanyahu that wounded more than 50 civilians.
While the Palestinian uprising has not been as intense over the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and the end of Ramadan, there were still plenty of violent incidents, even as renewed negotiations were being conducted.
With less than four weeks left in office, US President Bill Clinton is holding to a Wednesday deadline for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to agree to accept his “outline of principles” for resolving their differences. The short time fuse has intensified debate in Israel over surrendering parts of Jerusalem, especially the Temple Mount, and forced PLO chief Yasser Arafat into a critical decision concerning the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees.
With less than four weeks left in office, US President Bill Clinton is holding to a Wednesday deadline for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to agree to accept his “outline of principles” for resolving their differences. The short time fuse has intensified debate in Israel over surrendering parts of Jerusalem, especially the Temple Mount, and forced PLO chief Yasser Arafat into a critical decision concerning the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees.
At the time of the most sacred biblical holidays, spanning Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), synagogues in Israel and across the world have been targeted by Jewish adversaries incensed by recent events in the Mideast. Israeli security forces believe that Arab residents and PA military forces have damaged the ancient Shalom al-Israel synagogue in Jericho, according to information received by the IDF in recent days. This follows the burning of Joseph’s Tomb on Saturday. The IDF believes that the PA is making urgent efforts to repair the building before the matter is … Read more
Israeli officials are pointing to several signs it is weathering well some of the key diplomatic battles being waged by the Palestinians in connection with the renewed intifada. In contrast, Palestinian Authority officials are claiming on Palestinian radio that the international community is on their side, they have embarrassed and defeated the Israeli army, and have controlled the political success or failure of both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and his predecessor, Binyamin Netanyahu.
Israel and the Palestinians are spinning different versions of just about every incident of violence in the on-going Palestinian uprising, while a number of “mysterious” mishaps are taking its toll on Fatah militia leaders and Islamic terrorists.
With violence continuing and an election battle heating up back in Israel, US officials on Tuesday held preliminary discussions with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Washington aimed at securing a cease-fire and paving the way for resumption of final-status talks. Israeli media, however, is filled with talk of new Israeli concessions in Jerusalem.