NYTimes – Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails ended a hunger strike on Monday that had lasted for weeks, signing an agreement with the Israeli authorities that promised improved conditions, according to officials. The end of the strike calmed fears of widespread unrest in the event of a prisoner’s death. Read article
Reuters – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a unity government on Tuesday in a surprise move that could give him a freer hand to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and seek peace with the Palestinians. Read article
Haaretz – Israel received a fourth Dolphin submarine from Germany on Thursday. The new sub, called “Tanin,” will be put into operation in 2013. According to a senior Israel Navy officer, the “submarine has a range for everything,” adding that it needs to refuel and charge its batteries only once in a long while. Read Article
TimesOfIsrael – The IDF has issued emergency call up orders to six reserve battalions in light of new dangers on the Egyptian and Syrian borders. And the Knesset has given the IDF permission to summon a further 16 reserve battalions if necessary, Israeli media reported on Wednesday. An IDF spokesperson said intelligence assessments called for the deployment of more soldiers. An army statement highlighted last August’s infiltration from the Sinai north of Eilat in which eight Israelis were killed, and said the subsequent division of that area into two distinct military zones necessitated additional manpower. Read article
Huffington Post – Israel’s military chief said in an interview published Wednesday that Iran will ultimately decide against building a nuclear weapon – putting him at odds with Israel’s more pessimistic prime minister. Maj. Gen. Benny Gantz told the Haaretz daily that he believes that diplomatic pressure and economic sanctions, along with Israel’s determination to strike if necessary, will deter Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons. “I don’t think (Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei) will want to go the extra mile,” he said. “I think the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people.” At the same time, he warned that Israel is moving forward with its preparations to take military action if necessary. “We are preparing for it in a credible manner. That’s my job, as a military man,” he said. Read Article
Harretz – So far, the United States has provided $205 million to support the Iron Dome effort; Obama administration plans to request unspecified level of funding from Congress to help expand the system. Read article
Reuters – Israel, aiming to avoid further damage to its troubled ties with Cairo, said on Monday it saw the Egyptian termination of a deal to supply Israel with natural gas as part of a business rather than a diplomatic dispute. Read article
YNet – IDF ready to attack Tehran’s nuclear facilities if needed, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz says; military constantly engaged in covert, high-risk operations beyond Israel’s borders, he says. Should Israel decide to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, the IDF will be prepared to carry out the mission, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz told Yedioth Ahronoth in remarks published Sunday. “In principle, we are ready to act,” the army chief told the newspaper in a special interview ahead of Israel’s upcoming Independence Day. Read Article
Read the latest news and comment on Israel from some of the leading news agencies from around the world. Following the 1947 United Nations decision to partition Palestine and declared Israel an independent state the region has never been at peace. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states andoccupied the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Keep up to date with a look at our Israel news archive of 1,004 articles on the topic CLICK HERE
Times of Israel – A major Israel TV station on Sunday night broadcast a detailed report on how Israel will go about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities in the event that diplomacy and sanctions fail and Israel decides to carry out a military strike. The report, screened on the main evening news of Channel 10, was remarkable both in terms of the access granted to the reporter, who said he had spent weeks with the pilots and other personnel he interviewed, and in the fact that his assessments on a strike were cleared by the military censor. Read Article
Guardian – Dozens of international pro-Palestinian activists have been refused entry into Israel in a large-scale security operation that ensured a high profile for the protesters’ attempted show of solidarity with the people of the West Bank. About 650 police officers, some in plain clothes, patrolled Ben Gurion airport on Sunday ready “to prevent disturbances and disruption”, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. Read article
TS – A new report from Richard Sale of ISSSource claims that the Stuxnet worm that crippled Iran’s nuclear program at the Natanz facility was planted by an Israeli “proxy”, essentially an Iranian that was working for Israel. The report further indicates that similar proxies have been used to assassinate scientists enlisted to help Iran build a nuclear program, although officials have said that the US never indulged in targeted killings. Read article
Ynet – Jerusalem requests Washington to allocate funds for more Iron Dome, Magic Wand anti-missile batteries. Deal will provide Israel with near-complete missile defense until 2015. Israel has asked the United States for assistance estimated at $700 million in order to produce more Iron Dome and Magic Wand missile and rocket defense batteries, sources told Ynet on Wednesday. Read Article
Bloomberg – Israel’s benchmark bonds rose, sending the yield to the lowest in more than a month, as signs of weaker U.S. job growth boosted demand for government debt. The yield on the benchmark Mimshal Shiklit bond due January 2022 fell four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 4.64 percent at 1:17 p.m. in Tel Aviv, the lowest since Feb. 28. The shekel was little changed at 3.7401 a dollar on April 6, having weakened 0.8 percent this month. Read Article
BBC – The decision blocks a move to have the war crimes tribunal based at The Hague investigate the 2008-2009 Gaza war. The prosecutor said it was up to “relevant bodies” at the UN or ICC member countries to determine whether Palestine qualified as a “state”. Only then could it sign the court’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said it welcomed Friday’s decision, and noted that it did not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction. Read article
Independent – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overruled the planned eviction on Tuesday of Jewish settlers from a building in an occupied West Bank city that is flashpoint of tensions with Palestinians. Some 20 settlers moved into the Hebron building last Thursday at night, seeking to expand a settlement of some 500 families in the heart of a biblical city overwhelmingly populated by Palestinians who regard Israelis as interlopers. Read article
Boston Globe – Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian protester in Gaza on Friday as thousands in the Palestinian territories, Israel and neighboring countries participated in an annual protest against the Jewish state’s land policies. Security forces in riot gear deployed in high numbers along the frontiers of Israel and the Palestinian territories in anticipation of a repeat of last year’s violence, in which at least 38 people died near the borders with Lebanon and Syria. Read Article
Independent – Israel’s military may have negotiated access to strategically placed air bases in Azerbaijan that could be used in an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, US officials have said. The unconfirmed report in Foreign Policy magazine suggested deepening co-operation between Israel and the Caucasian republic, which shares a border with Iran. It said that Israel and Azerbaijan secured a $1.6bn arms deal in February, which included the pledged sale of drones and anti-aircraft missile systems to Baku. Read Article
Ria Novosti – Azerbaijan purchased a variety of weaponry, including aerial drones and an advanced anti-missile capable radar, from Israel under a $1.6 bln contract signed in 2011, the APA news agency said on Tuesday, citing data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). According to the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, Baku bought an unknown number of Gabriel anti-ship missiles, five Heron and five Searcher UAV’s, a Barak-8 air defense system with 75 missiles, and an EL/M-2080 Green Pine radar. Israel uses Green Pine for its national missile defense system. Analitika.az website speculated that the purchases could be linked to a cooling in relations with Iran, after ties between Baku and Tehran deteriorated recently. Read Article
Ynet – For first time in many years, all IDF units to be on full alert during Passover holiday; army officials insist decision not related to any planned military operations. Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has ordered all IDF units to cancel their traditional Passover breaks so that they can operate in full capacity over the upcoming holdiay, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday. The implication of the decision is that for the first time in many years, all IDF units will maintain their regular operations and remain on full alert throughout the holiday. Read Article
BBC – The foreign ministry has reportedly told its envoy in Geneva not to co-operate with the council or with UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay. It will also prevent a UN team entering Israel to assess the effects of settlements on Palestinian rights. Last week, Israel said the decision to establish the probe was “surrealistic”. Read article
BBC – Israel has cut working relations with the UN Human Rights Council, officials say, after it decided to investigate Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The foreign ministry has reportedly told its envoy in Geneva not to co-operate with the council or with UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay. It will also prevent a UN team entering Israel to assess the effects of settlements on Palestinian rights. Read Article
Haaretz – According to the report, the Defense Ministry ordered Elta, the firm contracted to supply the components, to hold two shipments over Israel’s reluctance to see Israeli-made security equipment being used by Turkey. Read article
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