Peres, Bibi bringing up Pollard release with Obama

JTA
Published on March 5, 2012

Israeli President Shimon Peres asked President Obama to release convicted spy-for-Israel Jonathan Pollard.

Israel forms special ops command; Experts eye Iran

Reuters
Published on December 15, 2011

Israel said on Thursday it was unifying its special forces under one command, a move experts say could help Israel strike countries like Iran, whose nuclear program the Jewish state deems a threat to its existence.

Netanyahu shores up his power at home

by Matthew Wagner, JTA
Published on December 13, 2011

He may be a lightning rod for criticism abroad, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is consolidating power at home.

Bibi expresses pride in Israel’s rights record

JTA
Published on December 8, 2011

Ahead of international Human Rights Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu burnished Israel's credentials.

Israel, Hamas agree on Gilad Shalit prisoner swap

by Jeffrey Heller and Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters
Published on October 11, 2011

Israel and Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers agreed on Tuesday to swap more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit, resolving one of the most emotive and intractable issues between them.

Behind Netanyahu�s shift on 1967 lines

by Jessica Steinberg, JTA
Published on August 9, 2011

In the never-ending game of diplomatic chess played by Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week made a new move to try to outflank the Palestinians.

Netanyahu: ‘Next year in a more built up Jerusalem’

By The Associated Press via Haaretz
Published on May 31, 2011

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his uncompromising stance on a united Jerusalem Tuesday night, saying he plans to authorize more building in the capital, in a speech at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu: Israel cannot prevent UN recognition of Palestinian state

by Jonathan Lis, Haaretz
Published on May 30, 2011

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that no one can prevent the recognition of a Palestinian state in the United Nations in September.

Obama at AIPAC: Let the Fun Begin

By Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Published on May 20, 2011

Speeches vs. reality

By Uri Dromi
Published on May 17, 2011

As I write these lines on May 17, the Middle East is caught between events and speeches. The events are the Arab spring, which actually started in December 2010, when a man burned himself to death in Tunisia, sparking a chain of pro-democracy uprisings all over the region; the skirmishes on the Israeli borders with Lebanon and Syria; the killing of Osama bin Laden; and the expected U.N. General Assembly motion in September, recognizing a Palestinian state. The speeches are the one President Barack Obama is delivering on May 19 (the day this newspaper appears in print) on the Middle East and North Africa, and three speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: the one he gave in the Knesset on May 16, the one he will give on May 23 before the U.S. Congress, and, finally, the one he will deliver at AIPAC.

Netanyahu, in meeting with Blair, urges Abbas to nix unity pact

JTA
Published on May 3, 2011

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Mahmoud Abbas to abandon a unity agreement with Hamas during a meeting with Quartet envoy Tony Blair. The Palestinian Authority president's Fatah party and Hamas, along with several other Palestinian factions, inked the reconciliation agreement Tuesday in Cairo. A formal signing of the Egypt-brokered unity agreement is scheduled for Wednesday.

Netanyahu: Killing of bin Laden is ‘resounding victory for justice’

Published on May 2, 2011

Israeli officials lauded a Monday statement by U.S. President Barack Obama announcing the assassination of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel shared the "joy of the American people.