Amman: Israel played down weekend air strikes reported to have killed dozens of Syrian soldiers close to Damascus, saying they were not aimed at influencing its neighbour's civil war but only at stopping Iranian missiles reaching Lebanese Hezbollah militants.
Oil prices spiked above $105 a barrel, their highest in nearly a month, on Monday as the air strikes on Friday and Sunday prompted fears of a wider spillover of the two-year old conflict in Syria that could affect Middle East oil exports.
"There are no winds of war," Yair Golan, the general commanding Israeli forces on the Syrian and Lebanese fronts, told reporters while out jogging with troops.
"Do you see tension? There is no tension. Do I look tense to you?" he said, according to the Maariv NRG news website....
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06:10 AM, May 07, 2013
Jerusalem: Israel sought to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday that its recent air strikes around Damascus did not aim to weaken him in the face of a more than two-year-old rebellion. Officials say Israel is reluctant to take sides in Syria's civil war for fear its actions would boost Islamists who are even more hostile to Israel than the Assad family, which has maintained a stable stand off...
05:30 PM, May 06, 2013
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no mention at a public appearance on Sunday of Israeli air strikes on Syria in recent days but spoke pointedly about a commitment to keeping Israel secure. "(My father) taught me that the greatest responsibility we have is to ensure Israel's security and guarantee its future," he said, dedicating a highway interchange named after his late father, Benzion Netanyahu, a historian who died a...
07:09 AM, May 06, 2013
Israel and Turkey agreed to restore full diplomatic relations on Friday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized in a phone call for a deadly naval raid against a Gaza-bound international flotilla in a dramatic turnaround partly brokered by President Barack Obama. Joint interests between the two countries, including fears that the Syrian civil war could spill over their respective borders, and some cajoling by Obama made the time ripe to...
11:57 AM, Mar 23, 2013
Israel and Turkey agreed to restore full diplomatic relations on Friday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized in a phone call for a deadly naval raid against a Gaza-bound international flotilla in a dramatic turnaround partly brokered by President Barack Obama. ...
07:33 AM, Mar 23, 2013
President Barack Obama warned on Friday that an "enclave for extremism" could fill a leadership void in war-torn Syria, a chilling scenario for an already tumultuous region, especially for Jordan, Syria's neighbor and a nation at the crossroads of the struggle for stability in the Middle East. ...
05:40 AM, Mar 23, 2013
Warning Israel that it was at a "crossroads", US President Barack Obama on Friday voiced his opposition to Tel Aviv's controversial settlement activities and said America was "deeply committed" to create an independent, sovereign state of Palestine. ...
09:45 AM, Mar 22, 2013
US President Barack Obama faces a stony reception when he travels to the West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian leaders who accuse him of letting Israel ride rough-shod over their dream of statehood. ...
07:05 AM, Mar 21, 2013
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has notified the country's President that he has succeeded in forming a government. ...
07:43 AM, Mar 17, 2013
US President Barack Obama has told Israelis that the United States has significant capabilities to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that he was keeping all options on the table. ...
03:46 AM, Mar 15, 2013
Hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged the bruised winner of Israel's election on Tuesday, claiming victory despite unexpected losses to resurgent centre-left challengers. ...
02:54 AM, Jan 23, 2013
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to win a third term on Tuesday in the first election in decades in which the Mideast peace process didn't take center stage, with many Israelis focused more on economic woes than ending their conflict with the Palestinians. ...
04:26 PM, Jan 22, 2013
Benjamin Netanyahu seems poised for re-election as Israel's prime minister in Tuesday's voting, the result of the failure of his opponents to unite behind a viable candidate against him - and the fact that most Israelis no longer seem to believe it's possible to reach a peace settlement with the Palestinians. ...
06:50 AM, Jan 22, 2013
Iran's perceived nuclear threat against Israel will be the central issue concerning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if he is re-elected in a month's time, the Israeli leader said on Saturday. Netanyahu has set out a mid-2013 "red line" for tackling Iran's uranium enrichment project. ...
05:00 PM, Dec 23, 2012
Jerusalem: Israel rejected concerted criticism from the United States and Europe on Monday over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to expand settlement building after the United Nations' de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood. Washington urged Israel to reconsider its plan to erect 3,000 more homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying the move hindered peace efforts with the Palestinians. Britain, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark summoned the...
02:06 AM, Dec 04, 2012
Jerusalem: Israel plans to build thousands of new homes for its settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, an Israeli official said on Friday, defying a UN vote that implicitly recognised Palestinian statehood there. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative government had authorised the construction of 3,000 housing units and ordered "preliminary zoning and planning work for thousands" more. The official...
01:22 AM, Dec 01, 2012
New Delhi: In an oblique criticism of Israel's offensive in Gaza, India on Wednesday said "disproportionate use of force" was completely unacceptable and demanded immediate de-escalation of the conflict in the region. Against the backdrop of criticism that India was muted in its response to the latest conflict in Gaza, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters that "we did say categorically that the disproportionate use of force is unacceptable"....
12:52 PM, Nov 21, 2012
Jerusalem: Israel is ready for a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip but prefers a diplomatic solution, a senior official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. "We would prefer to see a diplomatic solution that would guarantee the peace for Israel's population in the south. If that is possible, then a ground operation would no longer be required," the official told Reuters. "But if diplomacy fails, we...
06:05 PM, Nov 19, 2012
Gaza/Jerusalem: Hostilities between Islamist militants and Israel entered a sixth day on Monday as diplomatic efforts were set to intensify to try to stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli air strikes on Gaza. International pressure for a ceasefire seemed certain to mount after the deadliest single incident in the flare-up on Sunday claimed the lives of at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children. Three people, including...
10:20 AM, Nov 19, 2012
Jerusalem: At least 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children, were killed on Sunday in what Hamas said was an Israeli air strike on a Gaza apartment building, the highest death toll in a single incident in five days of fighting. Israel gave off signs of a possible ground invasion of the Hamas-run enclave as the next stage in its air and sea offensive billed as a bid to stop Palestinian...
10:12 PM, Nov 18, 2012
