On Friday, George Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood together in the White House to condemn Iran. “Iran, armed with a nuclear weapon, poses a grave threat to the security of the world,” Mr. Bush said. “We will not be intimidated,” Ms. Merkel added. The press conference marks a turning point in a decade-long saga. Europe's engagement with Iran has failed. While Iranian diplomats met with their British, French and German counterparts in Vienna and Geneva, Iranian technicians toiled to ready Iran's uranium enrichment capability Read More

Read more »

A Knesset Member of Yisrael Beiteinu, a former member-party of the National Union, discusses Sins of the Past and Promises for the FutureMK Yuri Shtern, an uncompromising foe of the Gaza expulsion, lays out his plan to ensure that the catastrophe in Gush Katif will not be repeated. Listen to Radio

Read more »

Iran's nuclear facilities, according to the newspaper report, are widely dispersed at some 40 underground sites throughout Iran, which would make any attack by Israel – or any other nation – exponentially more difficult that Israel's successful attack on Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981. Read More

Read more »

In the matter of the holy places, a historical precedent exists that is wonderfully suited to the issue of Jerusalem and could serve as a basis for the solution of the problem without partitioning the city. In 1871, a serious disagreement developed between the government of united Italy and the Vatican following the declaration of the city of Rome as the capital of Italy. The dispute continued until 1929, when the Lateran Treaty established a “special status under international guarantee” for the five basilicas that belong to the Vatican, but which are outside of its territory and scattered throughout the…

Read more »

Tel Aviv, 13 Jan. (AKI) – A 1929 accord between the Vatican and Fascist Italy granting 'special status' to several Rome churches could provide a model to resolve the dispute over Israel's control of Jerusalem, a former Israeli ambassador has suggested. Moshe Sasson, Israel's ambassador to Italy from 1973-77, described the Lateran Treaty signed by Benito Mussolini and the Vatican as “a historical precedent that is wonderfully suited to the issue of Jerusalem,” in an editorial in Friday's edition of the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz. Read More

Read more »

 IAF pilots have completed their mission training and fighter jets have been prepared for an Israeli attack on Iran, the British Sunday Times reported.The article reported that “the elite 69 strategic F-15 I squadron” had been equipped with weapons that will be tested in combat for the first time, and that two missile submarines were on standby: one in the Persian Gulf and the second in Haifa Bay. The Times also said that special IDF forces would be helicoptered into Iran to take out targets that could not be destroyed in an air strike. Read More

Read more »

Tel Aviv, 13 Jan. (AKI) – A 1929 accord between the Vatican and Fascist Italy granting 'special status' to several Rome churches could provide a model to resolve the dispute over Israel's control of Jerusalem, a former Israeli ambassador has suggested. Moshe Sasson, Israel's ambassador to Italy from 1973-77, described the Lateran Treaty signed by Benito Mussolini and the Vatican as “a historical precedent that is wonderfully suited to the issue of Jerusalem,” in an editorial in Friday's edition of the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz. Sasson argues that by seeking an arrangement similar to the Lateran Treaty, Israel would prevent…

Read more »

JERUSALEM –  US television evangelist Pat Robertson's claim that Ariel Sharon's stroke was an act of God has triggered a bout of soul-searching in Israel about the Jewish state's relationship with right-wing Christians. Robertson, a hellfire-and-brimstone preacher known for his controversial remarks, triggered a storm of protest last week by suggesting that Sharon had been struck down for overseeing the pullout from Gaza, the first-ever Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian land. His comments, hours after Sharon suffered a brain haemorrhage, prompted Israel to cancel a $50-million contract with Robertson to build a new Christian heritage center in the Galilee. Quoting the…

Read more »

Iranian nuclear crisis The European Union decided to break off negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program. The final decision on the holding of an extraordinary meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the forwarding of the Iranian dossier to the UN Security Council will be made next week in London at negotiations with representatives of the United States, EU, Russia and China. Moscow has already made it clear that it will no longer cover for Iran, which removed the seals from its nuclear facilities yesterday. Kommersant has learned that the Russian military delegation has Teheran, cutting off negotiations…

Read more »