JERUSALEM – To understand why a lifelong hawk like Ehud Olmert could come to embody the moderate center of Israeli politics, look no further than his family. There’s his wife, Aliza, a dove even before they married 35 years ago. And his son Shaul, who refused to serve the army’s rule over the Palestinians. And his daughter Dana, who is … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — A former intelligence official who controlled Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard has put his new party in a position to influence Israel’s next government with its surprise showing in legislative elections. Rafi Eitan, who also helped in the capture of Holocaust mastermind Adolf Eichmann in 1960, led his Pensioners Party to garnering seven seats in the 120-seat parliament. Most … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel — Dressed in sneakers, khaki pants and a sweatshirt, the chairman of Israel’s pro-marijuana Green Leaf party takes a drag from his cigarette. “If it was up to the youth, I would be the Prime Minister of Israel,” Boaz Wachtel says, sitting on a worn-out sofa in his Tel Aviv office. That may be a pipe-dream, but … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ Like most of its modern, conservation-friendly counterparts, Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo is trying to save animals from extinction and reintroduce them into the wild. But that philosophy, referred to in zoological circles as the “Noah’s Ark paradigm,” takes on a special meaning here. Most of the Biblical Zoo’s inhabitants trace their lineage to the great beasts who were … Read More
JERUSALEM — The extradition of a suspected Israeli mob boss to face drug charges in Miami and New York is drawing new attention to Israel’s increasingly brazen underworld, where gangsters have bombed busy streets and fired anti-tank missiles. Israel’s mob turf is so dangerous that the State Department has issued a travel advisory warning Americans of the dangers of the … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) – Who says Israel and Hamas aren’t talking? Officials may be shunning all contact, but Ribhi Rantisi is rocking the Israeli airwaves, spreading the Hamas word in fluent slang-peppered Hebrew. The Gaza shampoo salesman and nephew of the late Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi has become a media star, connecting to Israeli audiences through his pragmatic views and … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ It’s nearly midnight and Shimon Peres, clad in a fashionable black leather jacket, casually strolls down a sidewalk in downtown Jerusalem, the heart of the city’s nightlife. Like a rock star with groupies, he is followed by dozens of journalists and aides as he meets and greets the young partiers of the city. This is grass-roots politics … Read More
JERUSALEM — Shoshana Damari, whose voice came to embody the emerging nation of Israel and comforted its people during their most trying times, died Tuesday after suffering from pneumonia. She was 83. Damari, known as “the queen of Hebrew music” and a recipient of the nation’s most prestigious cultural prize, entertained Israeli civilians and soldiers for nearly seven decades with … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel — A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a Tel Aviv fast-food stand Thursday, wounding 20 people in an apparent attempt to destabilize the region just a week before the Palestinian parliamentary elections. The militant Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility in a telephone call to The Associated Press. The group has been responsible for all six … Read More
THURSDAY, Jan. 19, 6 p.m. local TEL AVIV, Israel, The Old Bus Station Israel’s first suicide bombing of 2006 was also its first in five years without Ariel Sharon at the helm. A strange reminder of Sharon’s absence came in the form of the owner of the shwarma stand targeted. His name? Aryeh Sharon. Otherwise, the scenes from “The Mayor’s … Read More
CAESAREA, Israel — The ball explodes off Zohar Sharon’s club and flies into the distance. Sharon can’t see it, but he knows it’s a good one and he flashes a big smile. Two strokes later, he has a birdie. With the help of a demanding coach, determined caddie and dedicated dog, Sharon has earned an unlikely title — the world’s … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Steven Spielberg’s controversial new movie, “Munich,” about the 1972 Olympic massacre and its aftermath, got an unlikely endorsement Wednesday – the widows of two of the 11 slain Israeli athletes said the film neither dishonored their husbands’ memories nor tarnished their country’s image. “The movie respects the athletes,” said Ilana Romano, widow of weightlifter Yosef Romano. She … Read More
JERUSALEM, Israel (AP) — Doctors expect Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to recover fully from a mild stroke and leave the hospital Tuesday, but his illness raised questions about his long-term health and ability to lead Israel if he wins a third term next year. As the 77-year-old Sharon recovered, members of the hardline Likud Party, which he quit last month to … Read More
YERUHAM, Israel (AP) — Israel’s latest political earthquake is playing out in places like this neglected desert town, founded for North African immigrants and until recently a stronghold of the hardline Likud Party. After Prime Minister Ariel Sharon bolted Likud and set up a more moderate party and the Moroccan-born Amir Peretz took over the dovish Labor Party, Likud loyalists are … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) – Condoleezza Rice was up all night in her Jerusalem hotel. The U.S. secretary of state huddled with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in her ninth floor suite, passing around a laptop computer, going through every word and comma on a proposed deal on Gaza border crossings. At 10:05, an agreement was clinched – a major achievement for the Bush administration … Read More