Israel

Terrorism & Security
Israel tested Stuxnet worm in joint effort with US to thwart Iran, says report

A Stuxnet cyber worm tested at a secret facility in Israel’s Negev desert wiped out about a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, The New York Times reported yesterday.
Iran claims it has dismantled Israeli spy ring behind nuclear scientist's death

Iran state TV last night broadcast a confession by an Iranian who said senior Israeli officers helped him rehearse the bombing that killed an Iranian nuclear scientist a year ago.
Five controversial Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem

The past decade has seen a significant expansion of Jewish areas in the Arab neighborhoods closest to the Old City, which could affect how the city is divided – or prevent it from being divided at all. Here is a list of five of the most controversial developments of Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
Israel hotel demolition escalates fight for East Jerusalem

The Shepherd Hotel demolition is at the forefront of a Jewish effort to settle East Jerusalem that opponents charge could preclude the formation of a Palestinian state with a capital in the holy city.
Israel giddy over new offshore gas find

The confirmation last week of the largest underwater discovery of natural gas in a decade off Israeli shores is stirring hopes that Israel could become energy independent.
Israel's Netanyahu goes on the defensive

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli lawmakers today that it was the US that dropped the idea of a three-month Israeli settlement freeze this fall.
Terrorism & Security
Tensions flare after Israeli forces kill Palestinian at West Bank checkpoint

Israeli military forces shot and killed a Palestinian man Sunday as he approached a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Nablus holding a bottle.
Former Israeli President convicted of rape

Women's rights activists hailed Moshe Katsav's rape conviction as a seminal victory for women's rights in Israel, which has a tradition of military machismo.
Is Israel a democracy? Five actions in 2010 that fueled the debate.

Recent actions by Israel's religious and right-wing communities have challenged the rights of the country's growing Arab minority.
Israel's Lieberman tweaks Turkey. Is he flanking Netanyahu?

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized Turkey in an apparent attempt to outflank Prime Minister Netanyahu on the right and pick up support from hardline nationalists disillusioned with the peace process.
Israel warns Gaza missiles could provoke new offensive against militants

Gaza militants fired 15 mortars or rockets into Israel on Monday and Tuesday in an unexpected flare-up two years after Israel's devastating offensive on the Hamas-controlled coastal strip.
Abbas invites Israeli lawmakers to lunch in Ramallah

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas hosted a banquet yesterday to appeal directly to Israelis, the latest move in an attempt to circumvent stymied peace talks.
Terrorism & Security
Israel says its air strike killed five Gaza militants planning attack

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and witnesses claim that five Gazans killed in an air strike Saturday were preparing to launch a rocket into Israel at the time of the strike.
In Israel, a rabbi who argues that anti-Arab measures are un-Jewish

Arik Ascherman, a Harvard grad who helped found Rabbis for Human Rights, is struggling to present an alternative voice amid rising anti-Arab and anti-foreigner sentiment in Israel.
With Mideast peace talks adrift, the US searches for Plan B

With the Obama administration's big idea to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks – a settlement freeze – abandoned, the region is skeptical about American leadership.
Israel repatriates 150 Sudanese in broader effort to discourage African influx

The number of Africans crossing into Israel illegally doubled in 2010, prompting a number of government measures – including yesterday's repatriation.
Global News Blog
Israeli police round up Palestinian youths, disregard their own laws, says rights report

The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem says that the recent detentions of Palestinian youths, aimed at quelling stone-throwing in E. Jerusalem, violates Israeli law.
Palestinian nonviolence: Is the Budrus model still viable?

The recent film 'Budrus' champions a West Bank village's nonviolent resistance that inspired more than 15 similar protest movements. But the momentum is waning.
Rabbis tell Israeli Jews not to rent to Arabs; even Holocaust museum frowns

The call from hundreds of rabbis on Jews not to rent or sell real estate to Arabs, a 20 percent minority, has sparked a heated debate over Israel's dual ideals of Judaism and democracy.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators fault US focus on settlements

Both sides, together with the US, appear to be regrouping after the Obama administration gave up on securing another settlement freeze.
US admits defeat on Israeli settlement freeze. Can it still broker peace?

In the wake of Argentina and Brazil's formal recognition of a Palestinian state, some are calling on the US to step in with a peace plan of its own.
Q&A: Why only 51 percent of Israelis support equal rights for Arab minority

A survey released this week showed stark views of the country's Arab minority, whose growing presence is challenging Israel's claim to being 'Jewish and democratic.'
For Israeli Arab teens, a way to serve the country – without joining the army

A civil service program gives Israel's Arab high school graduates – who are exempt from the military draft faced by Jewish 18-year-olds – the opportunity to contribute to their state.
Israel wildfire exposes gaps in emergency preparedness

As international help pours in to quench an unprecedented Israeli wildfire, many are asking whether the country is equally unprepared to deal with an Iran or Hezbollah missile attack.
WikiLeaks reveals depth of Israel's rift with Turkey

Until WikiLeaks revealed otherwise this week, Israeli officials had insisted that the two countries remained regional partners. Now they're speaking more openly about a shift toward Turkey's rival, Greece.