JERUSALEM (AP) — Fifty years after Holocaust mastermind Adolf Eichmann was convicted in an epic trial that helped shape Israel’s national psyche, the Israeli parliament on Monday put on display for the first time dozens of artifacts from the daring 1960 operation in Argentina that captured the Nazi criminal. The gripping public testimony during the trial by more than 100 … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a snap leadership primary in his Likud Party Monday, raising the possibility of an early general election next year. The gambit reflected the confidence of a leader who — while at loggerheads with the Palestinians, a region in turmoil and much of the world — is riding high, for now, at … Read More
JERUSALEM—For five long years during World War II, Nahum Korenblum never left the side of his younger brother Yaakov as the two fled the Nazi invasion of Poland, escaped forced labor camps across Europe and ultimately joined the Soviet Red Army. There, they were separated and dispatched abroad, never to meet again. On Thursday, more than a decade after they … Read More
JERUSALEM — Three Jewish former major leaguers have joined Israel’s bid for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, a move that could transform the baseball backwater into a legitimate contender. Shawn Green, Brad Ausmus and Gabe Kapler met this week in Los Angeles with Israeli baseball officials and committed to helping Israel field a competitive team in next year’s WBC qualifying … Read More
JERUSALEM — The Israeli women’s basketball league canceled its entire season after local players went on strike to protest a new rule giving more playing opportunities to foreigners. The decision leaves several top WNBA players out of work. This is the first time in the league’s 54-year history that a whole season has been scrapped. Israel has one of Europe’s … Read More
MITZPE HILA, Israel (AP) — Gaunt and pale, Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit returned home Tuesday after more than five years in captivity, freed in a lopsided exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners that could greatly complicate Mideast peace prospects and strengthen the Islamic militant Hamas. The swap set off massive celebrations in Israel and the Palestinian territories, where crowds in … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ Israeli euphoria over a deal to free a soldier held for five years by Hamas gave way Wednesday to growing anxiety that the swap for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted of murder, could lead to new violence. When Israelis first got word Tuesday night of the deal to free Sgt. Gilad Schalit, they erupted in … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ In a much-anticipated prisoner exchange that could have broad implications, Israel and Hamas on Tuesday announced that an Israeli soldier abducted to Gaza five years ago would be swapped for about 1,000 Palestinians held by Israel and accused of militant activity. Israel’s government approved the deal early Wednesday following a three-hour debate after both Israeli Prime Minister … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ With tears in his eyes, Michael Sidko laid a wreath of flowers at Israel’s official Holocaust memorial during a solemn ceremony Thursday marking 70 years since a World War II massacre he barely escaped. Sidko was six when he was taken with his family to the Babi Yar ravine outside Kiev, Ukraine _ then part of the … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ When Israeli scientist Dan Shechtman claimed to have stumbled upon a new crystalline chemical structure that seemed to violate the laws of nature, colleagues mocked him, insulted him and exiled him from his research group. After years in the scientific wilderness, though, he was proved right. And on Wednesday, he received the ultimate vindication: the Nobel Prize … Read More
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Thousands of jubilant, flag-waving Palestinians, watching on outdoor screens across the West Bank, cheered their president on Friday as he submitted his historic request for recognition of a state of Palestine to the United Nations. Mahmoud Abbas’ defiant stance, pushing for U.N. recognition over strong objections from the U.S. and Israel, has struck a chord … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) _ Israel’s official Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem on Thursday rescinded an invitation to Lithuanian officials to attend a memorial service, as a protest against their country’s call to investigate a Holocaust survivor. The decision follows a Lithuanian accusation against a prominent survivor of slandering Lithuanians who collaborated with the Nazis, but are considered national heroes because they opposed … Read More
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) _ Turkey’s prime minister said Tuesday his nation’s navy will step up its surveillance of the eastern Mediterranean Sea _ a move that could potentially lead to confrontation with Israel _ and warned of more sanctions against Israel as relations between the former allies deteriorated further. Turkey has already suspended its vast military ties with Israel, said … 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
JERUSALEM (AP) – More than 400,000 Israelis poured into streets in cities across the country Saturday night in a show of strength behind a social protest movement that has rocked the country for two months. The demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and elsewhere against Israel’s high cost of living, its housing crisis and distorted distribution of wealth marked the … Read More