Israel’s Foreign Ministry has instructed its missions abroad to make extensive use of photographs of the 10-month-old Jewish baby girl killed by Palestinian sniper fire in Hebron on Monday to show the world the brutal campaign of violence and terrorism Israel is facing.
After receiving clear backing from the Bush Administration for his guarded approach with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon returned home amidst escalating violence on Thursday and swore to get tough soon.
Marwan Barghouti, the senior Fatah leader in the “West Bank,” is having a hard time explaining how a “popular” Palestinian uprising is not so popular among the public anymore.
Early Thursday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak suspended a series of military strikes on Palestinian targets planned in retaliation for the death of three IDF soldiers yesterday, after cabinet minister Shimon Peres met late last night in Gaza with PLO chief Yasser Arafat and worked out an “agreement” for implementing the terms of the Sharm e-Sheikh truce.
The Or Commission hearings into the violent riots last October that left 13 Israeli Arabs dead halted its proceedings on Thursday after a police officer was assaulted while on the witness stand.
An explosion rocked the Iraqi capital of Baghdad early Friday morning, killing two people and injuring several others. The regime of dictator Saddam Hussein immediately blamed the blast on “the agents of treachery and vice… the Zionists and the Americans.”
Despite Palestinian media reports blaming Israel for the suspected outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Palestinian areas, Israeli authorities handed over to Palestinian Authority officials 220,000 vaccines to inoculate their herds against the virus on Sunday morning.
In yet another example of Arab leaders advocating terrorism and violence to settle disagreements, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri said Lebanon has the right to fight for and “liberate by all means available” the disputed Sheba Farms area, including cross-border attacks by Hizb’Allah.
Israel’s new Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has arrived in Washington for his first official visit with the Bush Administration, leaving behind the traditional “shopping list” of Israeli defense needs and yet another surge of Palestinian terrorism.
Tensions remain high throughout Israel, as Palestinians staged violent riots and shooting attacks on Thursday and into Friday, when Israeli Arabs were more subdued in their annual “Land Day” protests.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon found lots of common ground on Tuesday with US President George W. Bush regarding his guarded approach to peace with the Palestinians, but Bush left it unclear whether PLO chief Yasser Arafat would get his own invite to the White House soon.
Even as US Secretary of State Colin Powell met with PLO chief Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on Sunday to urge an end to Palestinian violence, two Israelis were shot nearby in an ambush by members of Arafat’s elite bodyguard unit, Force 17.
Palestinian gunmen and rioters rampaged in the Ramallah area after a rare visit by PLO chief Yasser Arafat and the arrest of the brother of a senior Fatah commander.
While world leaders met today in an attempt to hammer out an agreement between two leaders who failed to sit down one with the other, violent clashes continued in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and in Jerusalem itself. Live fire from PA-ruled areas near Bethlehem was directed into the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo with Israeli casualties. The tanks that have been in Gilo for the past week returned fire with their machine guns.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s “accidental” reference to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in a hearing before Congress last Thursday made waves among Arab states, who called the statement a “dangerous” and “antagonistic” violation of international agreements.
A new poll of Americans indicates overwhelming support for Israel’s targeting of terrorists before they strike again.
By better than a 4 -1 ratio, Americans support Israel’s tough anti-terrorism strategy according to a new, bipartisan poll released this weekened by the America Middle East Information Network (AMEIN). “It’s clear from this survey that the overwhelming majority of Americans share the Israeli view that terrorism is never justified and should be combated aggressively,” said pollster Frank Luntz.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell will not attend the upcoming anti-racism conference in Durban, forcing Israel to reassess the level of its own representation at the UN forum where Arab/Islamic elements plan to bash the Jewish State and people.
The Palestinian war against Israel has heated up again, as eight Israelis have been killed in commando raids and terrorist ambushes from Saturday through Monday, prompting IDF strikes at numerous Palestinian police positions. PLO chief Yasser Arafat and other Arab leaders were already livid at the Israeli responses and American verbal and material support for them, even before an IDF hit on the head of a militant PLO faction in Ramallah today ratcheted regional tensions to new levels.
Upon hearing of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s sudden resignation over the weekend, Palestinian officials gloated that the renewed intifada had brought him down, but also lamented over the resulting delay caused by new elections.
Ever since the heavy death toll in the Palestinian uprising on Friday, there have been several incidents of foiled bombings and narrowly averted disasters over the weekend, including one involving Israel’s Chief Rabbi.