Former Premier Ehud Barak, trying to regain control of his Labour Party, today called for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign because of the harsh findings of an inquiry into last year’s Lebanon war.

Israeli President Moshe Katsav’s lawyers made a last-ditch effort today to stave off an indictment on rape and other sexual assault charges at a hearing before Israel’s top prosecutor.

Allies and opponents today clamoured for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s resignation after scathing criticism from an official commission of his performance during last year’s Lebanon war.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defiantly declared that he would not quit, despite one of the harshest government inquiry commission reports in Israel’s history.

Israeli Cabinet minister Eitan Cabel will announce his resignation today in protest at the critical findings of the Lebanon war inquiry, his spokesman says.

Israel celebrated its 59th independence day today with millions enjoying barbecues in gardens and parks while lamenting rising corruption and the depressing after-effects of the summer’s inconclusive war in Lebanon.

A UNITED NATIONS anti-racism panel has questioned Israel’s policy on preserving holy sites, asking the country to explain whether it protects places considered sacred to religions other than Judaism.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced his much-anticipated return to politics, saying he will run for the leadership of the Labour Party, a first step towards trying for Israel’s highest office again.

A slip of the tongue by prime minister Ehud Olmert about Israel’s nuclear policy ballooned into a domestic crisis today for the already embattled Israeli leader.

Lebanese guerrillas used human shields in their recent war with Israel, according to a report from an Israeli think tank.

The Israeli Cabinet today voted overwhelmingly to bring into the government a hawkish party that opposes ceding territory to the Palestinians and wants to redraw Israel’s borders to exclude many Israeli Arabs.

Israelis would vote Ehud Olmert out of office if elections were held now, polls indicated today, as the defiant prime minister defended his performance in the Lebanon war and lashed out at his critics.

Nearly seven out of 10 Israelis are dissatisfied with prime minister Ehud Olmert’s performance and his greatest political rival would win an election, according to an opinion poll today

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert promised today to bring home two soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas.

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to the Lebanon war.

Israel’s military chief has admitted for the first time that there were shortcomings in the military’s performance during the recent Lebanon war, it was reported today.

The messy Lebanon war has cost Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert much of his political capital – and with approval ratings plummeting, he has been forced to shelve his ambitious West Bank pullout plan and is instead struggling to ride out a growing public storm over the government’s wartime bungles.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ignited a political firestorm by linking the conflict in Lebanon to his plan to withdraw from much of the West Bank.

MORDECHAI VANUNU was released on Wednesday after serving almost 18 years in jail for telling the truth about Israel's surreptitious efforts to develop nuclear weapons in 1986.