JERUSALEM (AP) — A public spat between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister has exposed a simmering rift between Israel’s security establishment and its hard-line government, pitting the Israeli leader in a risky showdown. The dispute has spotlighted the sensitive debate over the military’s role in public discourse in Israel, where security figures have occasionally served as a … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — After finding high-tech solutions to halt suicide bombings and rockets, tech-savvy Israel is struggling with the resurgence of a weapon dating back to David and Goliath: the hurled rock. Rock throwing is becoming commonplace in Jerusalem amid a wave of Palestinian unrest, leading to calls for a harsh crackdown and adding to tensions over access to a … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — It was perhaps the most daring Israeli military exploit ever — a rescue raid in Africa that inspired Hollywood films and became etched in Israeli history. Nearly four decades later, a first-of-its-kind exhibit showcases the story behind the July 1976 freeing of hostages from a hijacked plane at Entebbe, Uganda. The display includes a copy … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — It used to be that if you wanted to join one of the world’s most secretive espionage organizations you had to sneak into a foreign embassy, answer a cryptic newspaper ad or show up in a nondescript building in Tel Aviv to meet a shadowy recruiter. Now all it takes to apply for a job … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says its punishing air assault on Hamas militants, their property and their weaponry has delivered a devastating blow to the Islamic militant group. Yet rocket fire at Israel has continued almost unabated. The military says that due to years of generous Iranian shipments, thousands of rockets remain in Gaza, and there is no quick … Read More
EILAT, Israel (AP) — Israel’s prime minister on Monday triumphantly toured a display of dozens of rockets that navy commandos intercepted in the Red Sea last week, alleged to be on their way from Iran to the Gaza Strip, and accused the international community of ignoring Iranian support for militant groups and falling victim to a charm offensive by the … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli naval forces raided a ship in the Red Sea early Wednesday and seized dozens of advanced rockets from Iran destined for Palestinian militants in Gaza that would have considerably boosted their ability to strike Israeli citizens, the military said. The ship, the KLOS C, was carrying Syrian-made M-302 rockets and was intercepted more than 1,000 miles (1,600 … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A sharp increase in the number of al-Qaida linked fighters joining the fight against President Bashar Assad in Syria is threatening to spill over the borders and prompting the Jewish state to re-evaluate its policy of neutrality in the civil war next door, a senior Israeli intelligence official warned on Friday. The official, who spoke … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — A spate of violent Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets in recent weeks is raising concerns in Israel that it may be on the verge of a new type of Palestinian uprising. In contrast to previous waves of Palestinian violence, the recent incidents do not appear to be an organized effort by militant groups but rather a collection … Read More
ALONEI HABASHAN, Golan Heights (AP) — Against a vista of green fields and snowcapped mountains, all is silent but for a gusting wind. Then comes a burst of gunfire from the Syrian civil war raging next door, where jihadist rebels are battling Bashar Assad’s troops in a village. Watching it all unfold from a few kilometers (miles) away are Israeli … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Academy Award-nominated documentary “The Gatekeepers” has won rave reviews for the candid soul-searching of its chief protagonists — the six living former directors of the country’s shadowy domestic spy agency — and their somewhat surprising conclusion: That force has its limits and Israel must ultimately take advantage of its military superiority to seek peace. It’s no … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel acknowledged Thursday it killed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s deputy in a 1988 raid in Tunisia, lifting a nearly 25-year veil of secrecy and allowing a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of its secret operations. One of the commandos was disguised as a woman on a romantic vacation, and one of the weapons was hidden in … Read More
JERUSALEM—When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to fill a sensitive Cabinet post recently, he turned to an old army buddy from his days in an elite commando unit. His choice for minister of civil defense, Avi Dichter, replaced another graduate of the legendary Sayeret Matkal unit. Netanyahu’s defense minister and vice premier, as well as Israel’s opposition leader, also served … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ Despite its confident saber-rattling, Israel’s concern is growing that the country is vulnerable to a devastating counterstrike if it attacks Iran’s nuclear program. An announcement this week that a mobile rocket-defense system will soon be built just outside Tel Aviv, where Israel’s sprawling military headquarters sits smack in the middle of office towers, museums, night spots and … Read More
JERSUALEM (AP) _ Israel was dealing with terrorism long before al-Qaida attacked the United States a decade ago. So when two passenger planes crashed into the World Trade Center, Washington looked to Israel for ideas. American law-enforcement agencies have now adopted many Israeli technologies, according to Steven Emerson, executive director of the nonprofit Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism. The New … Read More