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While the government has thus far refused to apologize to Turkey over a clash aboard a Gaza-bound boat in 2010, senior cabinet ministers are divided on the matter. Foremost among them are Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak; the former staunchly opposes an apology, while the latter supports it. “This is not a legal matter, but rather a political issue, and is not a question of defending IDF soldiers but of neglecting them, of irresponsibility on the diplomatic level,” Lieberman said Thursday. “If there is an apology, that means admitting defeat on the battlefield and the political...

Despite torpedoing U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East peace drive, Israel is still trying to sweet-talk Washington into providing 20 F-35 stealth fighters it promised free of charge in return for a settlements freeze in the occupied West Bank. Washington withdrew the offer after the government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, dominated by right-wing parties, refused to extend a 10-month halt in settlement building for 90 days, the Palestinian condition for continuing the talks. In the face of Israel's refusal, the U.S. administration withdrew the offer of free F-35s worth $3 billion, along with other incentives it had put...

Two photographs adorn the office of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Together they illuminate a portentous fact: No two leaders of democracies are less alike -- in life experiences, temperaments and political philosophies -- than Netanyahu, the former commando and fierce nationalist, and Barack Obama, the former professor and post-nationalist. One photograph is of Theodor Herzl, born 150 years ago. Dismayed by the eruption of anti-Semitism in France during the Dreyfus Affair at the end of the 19th century, Herzl became Zionism's founding father. Long before the Holocaust, he concluded that Jews could find safety only in a national homeland....

Barack Obama's foreign policy has been defined so far by his attempts to "engage" with adversaries or rivals of the United States, such as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. The results have been mixed. But now the president's focus is visibly shifting. In the next 18 months, Obama's record abroad will be made or broken by his ability to do business with two nominal U.S. allies: Hamid Karzai and Binyamin Netanyahu. Both men are prickly and somewhat inscrutable... And Obama has not done well. In fact, his treatment of the Israeli and Afghan leaders during...

The Kuwaiti newspaper al-Sayissa reported Wednesday that Iran has urgently summoned either Syrian Vice President Farouk Sharaa or Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah. They are apparently being called to the Iranian capital to receive orders to be carried out in the event of Iranian nuclear sites being targeted in war, Israel Radio reported. The newspaper quoted a Gulf state diplomat as saying that Nasrallah will travel to Teheran in the coming days in order to receive his marching-orders. Iranian opposition organizations in Paris told the newspaper that the Iranian intelligence apparatus has established a bank...

Gulf Cooperation Council members -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman -- are getting ready for what many now assume will be retaliation from Iran following Israeli bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities later this year. Up and down the Persian Gulf, Patriot missile batteries have been quietly deployed around key oil installations. The Patriot system is designed to detect, target and then hit incoming missiles that may be no more than 10 to 20 feet long and flying at three to five times the speed of sound. Iran has hundreds of missiles and rockets. There is also...

Netanyahu: They vilified me, but I created growth Likud chair Benjamin Netanyahu: Everyone's taking credit for my economic policies. Globes’ correspondent 16 May 06 12:48Likud chairman MK Benjamin Netanyahu accuses politicians and journalists of collaborating to vilify him and blacken his reputation, even though they knew the truth that his economic doctrine was right.In an interview with IDF Radio (Galei Zahal) this morning, Netanyahu said, “I was targeted because I opposed the disengagement plan. They made political capital out of me and my policies. For months, they presented me as an evil man. Those who viciously and venomously attacked my...

Nov. 24, 2005 18:47 | Updated Nov. 24, 2005 21:25 Low turnout mars Sharon-less Likud committee event By GIL HOFFMAN The Likud central committee convenes Minister without portfolio Tzahi Hanegbi Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski The first Likud central committee meeting without Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was intended to be a showcase of party unity in the post-Sharon era, but instead it will be remembered for its low turnout. When the event was supposed to start at 5 p.m., the room was nearly empty. It started an hour late and finished shortly thereafter. Organizers said after the event that 911 central committee...

Likud to Choose New Leader Likud Committee approves December primariesAmid growing tension among candidates for Likud leadership, ominous polls ahead of March general elections, Likud Central Committee convene in Tel Aviv Thursday to approve December 19 as date for leadership contest Attila Somfalvi Closing in. Mofaz Photo: Gil Yohanan A positive campaign. Netanyahu Photo: AFP Amid the growing tension among the candidates for Likud leadership and the ominous polls ahead of the March general elections, the Likud Central Committee is convening in Tel Aviv Thursday to approve the date for primary elections for party chairmanship and to determine the ordering...

Nov. 14, 2005 14:29 | Updated Nov. 14, 2005 20:24 Labor ministers sign resignation letters By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL AND GIL HOFFMAN Netanyhau and Peretz, future rivals for top post? Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file] In a move signifying their support for Labor Party head Amir Peretz, all eight Labor Party ministers submitted to Peretz letters of resignation from the government Monday evening as per his request. In order for the resignations to take effect, the letters must be submitted to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Peretz, who refused to comment on the resignations, was expected to lead his party out of...

Thursday July 17, 2003 The Guardian As the CIA director, George Tenet, arrived at the Senate yesterday to give secret testimony on the Niger uranium affair, it was becoming increasingly clear in Washington that the scandal was only a small, well-documented symptom of a complete breakdown in US intelligence that helped steer America into war. It represents the Bush administration's second catastrophic intelligence failure. But the CIA and FBI's inability to prevent the September 11 attacks was largely due to internal institutional weaknesses. This time the implications are far more damaging for the White House, which stands accused of politicising...

Sep. 23, 2005 0:30 | Updated Sep. 23, 2005 6:05 PM sees vote against him as 'tantamount to impeachment' By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND JPOST STAFF Prime Minister Ariel Sharon considers a loss of support within the Likud Central Committee over the impending leadership race as being "tantamount to political impeachment," one of Sharon's top political aides told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. It is unlikely that Sharon will remain in the Likud if he loses its support this Monday, said the aide, Eyal Arad, and if he does leave he may create a new party. Such an eventuality was not...

Mofaz to Bibi: You’ll destroy Likud Defense Minister calls on Likud Central Committee members to reject Netanyahu’s initiative to bring the party’s primary elections forward, says, ‘Bibi, if your battle (to push up the primaries) succeeds, you will be remembered as the person who destroyed Likud’ Attila Somfalvi Says Bibi hurt Likud voters. Mofaz Photo: Tzafrir Aviyov Defense minister attacked his economic policy. Netanyahu Photo: Hagai Aharon Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called Thursday on Likud Central Committee members to reject the proposal to bring the party’s primary elections forward. Mofaz, who spoke during a New Year’s toast, launched a scathing...

24 outposts to be removed Israel will evacuate unauthorized outposts built in March 2001 and later, as stipulated by the road map, Prime Minister Sharon tells United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan; U.N. head is in Israel for new Holocaust museum’s inauguration By Doron Sheffer and Attila Somfalvi Annan, Sharon in good spirits Photo: GPO JERUSALEM - Israel will remove unauthorized outposts built in March 2001 and later, as stipulated by the “road map” peace plan, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan during their meeting Sunday. Sharon’s decision conforms with the position advanced by senior...

A new political map Separate existence of Labor and Likud does not represent new consensus Ehud Barak Photo: AP Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Alex Kolomoisky Institutions last long after they have stopped being relevant. Some come crashing down suddenly, while others die a slow death. The Labor Party is an example of an institution dying a slow death. It is true some political parties replace their old platform with a newer one, draw younger supporters and offer updated leadership, but there is no sign of this occurring in Labor, which is led by an 81-year-old man, while his apparent successors are...

13% tax break for settlements bordering Gaza Strip The tax credit will be granted to residents of communities within seven kilometers of the Gaza Strip. Zeev Klein 19 Jan 05 13:58Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu today announced that residents in areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip would soon receive a 13% tax break, similar to the tax break given to residents of Sderot. The ministerial legislation committee this week approved Netanyahu's proposal to grant a 13% tax credit, up to a ceiling of NIS 129,840 a year, for residents of communities adjacent to the Gaza Strip. A draft bill will...

Dec. 8, 2003 Bibi interrupted at Economic Forum by activists By JPOST.COM STAFF Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, addressing the closing session of the 2003 Economic Forum, was interrupted social activists who accused him of destroying Israeli society, Monday. Netanyahu told audience members that although his economic program was a painful one, it was the only way of returning the economy to growth. He called upon Bank of Israel governor David Klein to continue lowering interest rates, in order to help the business sector - on one hand - and overdrawn lower classes - on the other. Histadrut Chairman Amir Peretz...

S&P confirms Israel rating Finance Minister Netanyahu: S&P's decision is a vote of confidence in the government's economic policy. Globes' correspondent 24 Nov 03 17:28Credit rating company Standard & Poor's (S&P) has left its rating for Israel unchanged. The rating will remain at A- for short-term foreign currency debt, and A-1 for long-term foreign currency debt. For local currency debt, the rating is A+ for short-term, and A-1 for long-term. The outlook for Israel's rating remains negative. Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu, who held meeting with the ratings companies in New York two weeks ago, said that S&P's decision was...

Nov. 3, 2003 Budget, economic arrangement bill goes to Knesset Tuesday By NINA GILBERT In spite of the ongoing labor strife, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's 2004 budget and economic arrangements bill are to be presented before the Knesset on Tuesday. The government is expected to easily win approval for the first reading of the legislation on Wednesday. The NIS 254.7 billion spending package is 3.5 percent less than the 2003 budget. The Knesset opposition announced Monday it would launch a parliamentary and public campaign to provoke negative public opinion against the approval of the budget on December 31. Under an...

Finance Ministry-Histadrut talks break down The Histadrut stands by its decision to launch a general strike on November 3rd. Sapir Peretz 23 Oct 03 15:16This morning's meeting between Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu and Histadrut chairman MK Amir Perez at Kfar Hamaccabi ended without results. The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) decision to launch a general strike as of November 3 stands. After the meeting, Netanyahu told the media that it was the government job to decide what to do, but it was prepared to negotiate over how to do it. "As for what to do, we...