Final results in Israel's election tonight give the moderate Kadima Party one more seat in the new parliament than Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.

Moderate Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel’s governing Kadima Party declared victory in a tight race with hawkish Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

ISRAEL’S national election is likely to be a cliffhanger, pollsters said yesterday, on the eve of a vote in which right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party had been forecast to emerge victorious.

Israel looks set to elect a new hardline government in elections tomorrow.

Gaza militants launched two rockets into southern Israel early today, further straining a ceasefire that ended Israel's Gaza offensive two weeks ago.

ISRAELI president Shimon Peres yesterday asked foreign minister Tzipi Livni to form a government, opening the way for the new Kadima party leader to become the second woman prime minister in the country’s history.

Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni declared victory today in the Kadima Party leadership race by a narrow margin of 431 votes.

ISRAELI foreign minister Tzipi Livni won a clear majority in the Kadima party’s primary election yesterday, TV exit polls showed — placing her in a good position to become the first female leader in 34 years and sending a message that peace talks with the Palestinians will proceed.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert will step down immediately after his party chooses a successor this month, a confidant said today.

ISRAELI police questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday for the second time since he announced he would resign after his centrist Kadima party chooses a new leader in September.

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu today called for immediate elections in the wake of his rival Ehud Olmert’s decision to quit as prime minister.

ISRAELI defence officials and political pundits rounded on deputy prime minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday after he threatened attacks against Iran, accusing him of exploiting war jitters to advance personal ambitions.

Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has easily defeated a radical Jewish settler in the race to lead the hardline Likud Party.

A campaign to oust Prime Minister Ehud Olmert shifted to the streets today, with a mass rally in Tel Aviv expected to draw tens of thousands of opponents calling for the embattled Israeli leader to step down.

Israel’s popular foreign minister today called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign, the highest-ranking official to call for his ousting in the wake of a harsh report about his performance during last year’s war in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet this morning in a desperate attempt to hold on to power.

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.

Mideast talks between US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and the Israeli and Palestinian leaders ended today with little progress other than a commitment to meet again.

Israel’s hardline Likud party would score a big win at the expense of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima and his main partner Labour – a complete turnaround – if elections were held now, according to a poll published today.

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is in stable condition today, a day after being rushed into intensive care with an infection that attacked his heart, hospital officials said.

FORMER Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was yesterday taken to an intensive care unit after his overall condition and heart function deteriorated, a hospital spokesman said.

Ariel Sharon’s pneumonia has improved and he has been taken out of intensive care, but is still in serious condition, a hospital spokesman said in Israel today.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tried to defuse growing public anger over his handling of the war against Hezbollah, promising to rebuild rocket-scarred border areas, but rejecting peace talks with Syria, a key supporter of the Lebanese guerrillas.

Israel’s new government is drawing up plans to divide the holy city of Jerusalem, according to officials.

ISRAELI leader Ehud Olmert presented his government to parliament yesterday, pledging to remove isolated Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank but to hold on forever to major enclaves and East Jerusalem.

Israel has modified the route of its West Bank separation barrier, moving forward with Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s plan to quickly define the country’s final borders as his Kadima Party secured a parliamentary majority.

Israel moved closer to a new government today when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party signed a coalition accord with its main partner, the Labour Party.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for three months, has undergone a CT scan to determine the outcome of surgery on his skull last week, Israel Radio reported today.

Pope Benedict XVI was today expected to meet with former Israeli prime minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres at the Vatican.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent a successful operation yesterday to reattach a piece of his skull, a day after the procedure was delayed because of a respiratory infection, hospital officials said.

The new Hamas government has prepared an emergency plan for its first three months of rule, and is to discuss it at its first Cabinet meeting today, the deputy Palestinian prime minister said.

The leaders of Israel’s two largest parties, Kadima and Labour, were to meet in Jerusalem later today to start coalition talks, signalling the end of a rift that began after last week’s national election.

ISRAEL yesterday took its first steps toward forming a new government widely expected to be led by interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who wants to set the country’s final borders with or without Palestinian agreement.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had a quarter of his skull removed during a series of brain operations in early January and neurosurgeons are now considering further surgery next week to reattach it, the Jerusalem Post reported today.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon had a quarter of his skull removed during a series of brain operations in early January and neurosurgeons are now considering further surgery next week to reattach it, The Jerusalem Post reported today.

An offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party has carried out its first suicide bombing against Israel since a February 2005 truce.

ACTING Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party is seeking swift coalition negotiations to carry out its plan to pull out of much of the West Bank and draw Israel's borders by 2010.

After declaring victory in Israeli elections, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima Party said today it would quickly form a broad ruling coalition that will pull out of much of the West Bank and draw Israel’s borders by 2010.

Israel’s president today said he’ll start talking to party leaders next week about forming a coalition, and that he expected a stable government would emerge.

The European Union congratulated the electoral victory of acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party today and hoped a new Israeli government would push ahead efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas today said the results of the Israeli election would have little effect unless the winner, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, changed his policies.

With 99.7% of polling stations accounted for, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima Party was winning 28 of 120 seats in parliament, the Election Commission reported early today.

Hamas tonight said it would resist Kadima's platform that calls for a partial withdrawal from the West Bank, a strengthening of large settlement blocs there and drawing Israel's borders by 2010.