Free Republic

17 terrorists who were convicted of murdering Israelis, including three who murdered senior citizens using axes, are among the 26 terrorists that Israel will set free this week. The full list was made public on the Israel Prisons Service website on Sunday night. Among the terrorists to be released is Salah Ibrahim Ahmad Mughdad, the murderer of Israel Tenenbaum who was found dead on June 14, 1993, at the hotel in Netanya where he had been working as a night watchman. Mughdad had murdered him on the job. Also being released is Barbakh Faiz Rajab Madhat, who murdered 61-year-old Moshe...

United States President Barack Obama spoke to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, several days after peace talks between the sides officially restarted. The White House said Obama made separate calls to both men in an effort to keep up the momentum. The PA-based WAFA news agency reported that Obama urged Abbas to make use of the current momentum to reach a deal with Israel and stressed his support of the efforts that led to launching the peace process. An Abbas aide told WAFA he hoped a deal could be reached in six to...

"Prime ministers are occasionally required to make decisions that are contrary to public opinion, when the matter is one of importance to the state. "There is no need for prime ministers, in order to make decisions that enjoy the support of public opinion. "At this time, I believe it is very important for the state of Israel to enter a diplomatic process. This is important for fully exhausting the chances for ending the conflict with the Palestinians, and also for solidifying Israel's status in the complex international reality that surrounds us. "The huge changes in our region – in Egypt,...

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas says he will hold a general referendum among his population over any final status agreement that might be reached with Israel before signing the dotted line. According to a report broadcast on the Hebrew-language Voice of Israel radio, Abbas said Monday that any agreement reached with Israel would be put to a vote before the Ramallah government would make any final deal with Israel. The announcement came after a similar one on Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in which he said he will propose a law requiring a referendum on any agreement before he...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intends to free 82 terrorist prisoners in the course of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, according to Channel 10. Most if not all of the terrorists were convicted of murder. The prisoners are reportedly to be released in four waves, once every two or four months, as the negotiations advance. According to the report, Netanyahu may prefer not to bring the release of terrorists to the full Cabinet for approval, but rather to the smaller “Security and Diplomacy Cabinet.” However, Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett, who is a member of the smaller forum as well, may...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Friday the resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. "I'm pleased to announce that we've reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis," Kerry told reporters in Amman, Jordan, according to AFP. "This is a significant and welcome step forward,” he added. “The agreement is still in the process of being finalized so we are absolutely not going to talk about any of the elements now." The top U.S. diplomat added that PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli...

An Israeli watchdog group has complained that Israel's embassy in Washington falsely published that Netanyahu endorsed the "two-state solution" in the Knesset earlier this month. The false statement appeared in the Embassy's June 7 email update, according to the watchdog group, Mattot Arim. In fact, Mattot Arim said, the reported event never happened. The Prime Minister had refrained from mentioning the term “2-state solution” when speaking in the Knesset, the group said. "If PM Netanyahu had spoken of the 2-state solution, all sorts of duly elected officials would not of course have been able to participate in the approval vote...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied Saturday that he is only pretending to seek a two-state solution, as Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon hinted broadly in a weekend interview. Danon’s comments “do not represent the position of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the government of Israel,” sources in the Prime Minister's Office told the Times of Israel in response to Danon’s interview, which the same news outlet published Thursday. The sources said that the prime minister “is interested in a resumption of negotiations without preconditions,” and that his positions regarding support for a two-state solution remain in force. .....

Israel needs to reach peace with the Palestinians to avoid becoming a binational state, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. He stressed, however, that the core of Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians was not territory, but rather a Palestinian unwillingness to recognize Israel’s legitimacy within any boundaries. Netanyahu’s comments at a meeting with top Foreign Ministry officials came amid signs of revived motion on the Palestinian track. He made similar comments during a meeting later in the day with five US congressmen, giving the impression that he was staking out a pre-negotiation position. “We’re engaged right now in an...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told members of Knesset on Sunday to refrain from voicing concern over mounting evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria, in an effort to avoid the impression Israel is pushing the international community into armed intervention, Army Radio said. Netanyahu gave the instructions after Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin suggested the international community might react militarily to "take control of the Syrian chemical weapons arsenal". The radio station reported Netanyahu sought to avoid the notion that Elkin's words be seen as an Israeli attempt to push the United States into launching a military operation in Syria....

<p>A "right to defend itself, by itself" is invoked a lot by Israel these days.</p> <p>Asked whether President Obama had given Israel what is often referred to as a "green light" to act militarily on Iran, Mr Netanyahu quipped: "Israel's right to defend its existence is not subject to a traffic light."</p>

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Rafi Biton on the eve of the Pesach holiday to tell him that suspects in attempted murder of his daughter, Adelle, are under arrest. Adelle, who is only 3, is in critical condition after the attack, in which Arabs hurled rocks at moving cars near Ariel. Netanyahu wished Biton and his family a happy Pesach. "I, my wife, Sarah, and the entire nation of Israel pray for the well-being of our sweet little one, Adelle," he said. Seven Israelis were injured in the terror attack, nine days ago. They include Adelle's mother and two sisters,...

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed satisfaction on Friday with Israel’s apology for the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident. Davutoglu, who just recently hinted there was a “secret deal” between Israel and Syria, said that all of Turkey's fundamental demands had been met with the apology. Earlier, Netanyahu spoke on the phone with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and apologized for the deaths of nine Turks during Israel’s 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. Channel 10 News reported on Friday the details of the agreement between Israel and Turkey. Netanyahu, in addition to the apology, has agreed to compensate the...

During their joint press conference this afternoon in Jerusalem, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mocked NBC’s Chuck Todd for asking too many questions. The two leaders dropped their own set of jokes to taunt Todd for asking at least five questions in a single sitting. “I want to follow up a little bit on the peace process. You began your term — first term, big fanfare — speaking to the Muslim world, the decision to have a Middle East envoy early, you said you weren’t going to let this slip to your second term.

Daniel Morcate @dmorca Quote of the Day: '#Israel can never cede the right to defend itself, even to its greatest friend.' Israeli PM B. #Netanyahu President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are holding a joint presser in Israel. White House Live ✔ @WHLive Happening now: President Obama & PM @netanyahu hold a press conference: http://wh.gov/live 6:33 PM - 20 Mar 13 White House LIVE Join me in watching it LIVE from the White House PETER MAER @petermaercbs Netanyahu on Iran nuclear threat: "We (Israel) have both the right and capability to defend ourselves."

Naftali Bennett responded to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's accusation that the Jewish Home party was making coalition negotiations difficult by excluding the hareidi parties. "In the days immediately following the elections, Likud refused to speak with the Jewish Home," said Bennett. "They excluded us. We knew if we sat quietly we would be in the opposition. I spoke with Yair Lapid... that Yesh Atid would not enter the government without the Jewish Home and that the Jewish Home would not enter the government without Yesh Atid."

JERUSALEM – In a stunning setback, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line bloc fared worse than expected in a parliamentary election Tuesday, exit polls showed, possibly forcing the incumbent Israeli leader to invite surprisingly strong moderate rivals into his government and soften his line toward the Palestinians. TV exit polls showed the hard-liners with about 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament, a bare majority, and the counts could change as actual votes are tallied. The unofficial TV results had Netanyahu winning only 31 seats, though he combined his Likud Party with the far-right Yisrael Beitenu for the voting. Running separately four...

....Netanyahu is expected to redefine his "natural partners" after the upcoming election, shifting from a nationalist government to a more leftist one. The Ma'ariv newspaper quoted senior Likud members as saying that because of a need to focus on issues such as the economy and due to pressure that is expected to come from US President Barack Obama in regards to the peace process, Netanyahu is expected to shift his coalition more towards the center-left in an effort to build as broad a coalition as possible. "Netanyahu would prefer to give up the religious parties, especially in light of the...

The weekend media storm over Naftali Bennett's position on how IDF soldiers should deal with orders to throw Jews out of their homes does not seem to have hurt the Bayit Yehudi chairman – and in fact, the party is doing better than ever. Several polls showed that Bayit Yehudi has pulled ahead of Shas, and with its 12-13 seats (depending on the poll), the party will be the third largest, after Labor and Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu. Auguring the party's popularity is the fact that Naftali Bennett's Facebook page has now achieved 100,00 “likes,” the seal of approval Facebook users grant...

..... "First, the facts: I never called for refusal of orders. Not in the interview with Nissim Mishal and not anywhere else, ever. "I have served in the IDF for 22 years, as a combat soldier and commander. I fought in all of Israel's campaigns during this time, including unknown ones. I repeat: I never called for refusal of orders.... "On Thursday I spoke from the depth of my heart and I do not apologize for what I said. However, I am now not a private individual but a public figure, and I will say things in the clearest possible...