An Israeli draft law that would make the use of the word "Nazi" illegal in most cases has sparked a debate on freedom of speech in a state that was founded out of the ashes of the Holocaust.

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has died, his son has confirmed.

WHEN Barack Obama made history in Nov 2008, Nitzan Horowitz, then covering the campaign for Israel’s Channel 10, had a front-row seat.

THE simultaneous elation of Israelis and Palestinians yesterday over a mass prisoner swap, is raising a faint glimmer of hope for progress in ending the Middle East conflict.

ISRAEL’S largest daily tabloid yesterday praised the elimination of a “cruel enemy” and urged readers not to worry about diplomatic relations with Ireland.

Israel’s president has called on Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to rescind his decision to stand down, invoking the memory of Yitzhak Rabin at a public commemoration for the assassinated Israeli premier.

Four judges have spoken out to defend awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to US president Barack Obama.

I wish to comment on the feature article written by Queen Noor of Jordan (January 5).

Israelis are marking the 13th anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s death at the hands of an assassin opposed to his peace policies.

THE head of Israel’s internal security service said yesterday he is “very concerned” that Jewish extremists could assassinate an Israeli leader in an attempt to foil peace moves with the Palestinians.

Pages from an Israeli astronaut's diary which survived the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia and a 37-mile fall to earth are going on display this weekend for the first time in Jerusalem.

More than 100,000 Israelis gathered in the square where their prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated 12 years ago to remember him – and protest against a decision to allow the assassin to be present at his son’s circumcision today.

Iran is not building its nuclear capabilities to destroy Israel but to gain influence and prestige in a hostile region, writes Shlomo Ben-Ami

Syrian President Bashar Assad expressed scepticism today towards US President George Bush’s call for an international Middle East peace conference, dismissing the offer as “just words”.

Elder statesman Shimon Peres took office as Israel’s ninth president today at the age of 83, pledging to devote the full seven-year term to realising his lifelong dream of bringing peace to the Middle East, despite the limitations of the largely ceremonial post.

Israeli authorities have agreed to allow Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin to receive conjugal visits in prison so he and his wife can try to start a family, Israeli media reported today.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told the United Nations today that the planned national unity government would recognise Israel.

On a table facing his desk, Ehud Olmert keeps photographs of three Israeli soldiers whose capture by Islamic militants in Gaza and Lebanon sparked the latest Middle East crisis.

Israel’s Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction barring the jailed assassin of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin from donating sperm to impregnate his wife, pending a final court ruling.

Capping a two-day visit to the United States, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi received an award for “defending the values of freedom” through his staunch support of the US-led war in Iraq.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke late yesterday triggered a law of succession granting his leadership duties to his deputy.

Israeli troops killed a senior Hamas militant in an overnight arrest raid today, Palestinian medical officials and neighbours of the man said.

Tens of thousands of Israelis packed the Tel Aviv square where Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated 10 years ago to mourn the former prime minister and to express hopes that his memory would spur new efforts to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Jordan’s King Abdullah will visit the West Bank on Monday, the office of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced.

Bill Clinton says he has a good candidate in mind for the 2008 United States presidential election: his wife.

Bill Clinton says he has a good candidate in mind for the 2008 United States presidential election: his wife.

A mysterious blast levelled a building in Gaza city, killing four people and wounding at least 30, residents and hospital officials said.

EGYPTIAN president Hosni Mubarak plans to visit Israel in November, an Israeli official said yesterday, in what would be just his second visit to the Jewish state.

A mysterious blast after nightfall tonight levelled a building in Gaza City, killing four people and wounding at least 30, residents and hospital officials said.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak plans to visit Israel in November, an Israeli official said today, in what would be just his second visit to the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today said images of Gaza settlers being removed from their homes were “heart-breaking”.

Tens of thousands of protesters filled a square in Tel Aviv, vowing that Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank would not happen.

THE militant group Hamas yesterday agreed to co-operate with the Palestinian Authority in ensuring a smooth transition during the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel’s pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank gathered in downtown Tel Aviv this evening for their last large-scale demonstration before the withdrawal is to begin.

THE 19-year-old who killed four Israeli Arabs on a bus had deserted the army to protest at Israel’s upcoming withdrawal from Gaza, taking refuge in a militant Jewish settlement with his military-issued rifle.

Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin has threatened to begin a hunger strike if he is not granted conjugal visits with the woman he says he married by proxy, a spokesman for the Israeli Prisons Authority said today.

Militant settlers warned of violence and civil war after Israel’s parliament cleared away a major obstacle in front of a planned pullout from all 21 Gaza settlements and four in the West Bank this summer, handily defeating a call for a referendum.

The Israeli military was delivering the bodies of 15 militants to the Palestinians for burial today, a day after Israel’s cabinet approved the names of 500 prisoners to be released and security commanders prepared for the handover of a West Bank town to Palestinian control.

FORMER US President Bill Clinton offered condolences to Palestinians after the death of Yasser Arafat but said their leader had missed the opportunity to create lasting Middle East peace in 2000.

In a message to Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, President Mary McAleese said Mr Arafat had always impressed her with his unwavering commitment to the Palestinian people and their future in the region.

Yasser Arafat clung on to life today and is not brain dead, his spokeswoman said.

OPPOSITION leader Shimon Peres yesterday said he feared Israeli extremists might try to assassinate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the target of growing far-right fury over a planned withdrawal from Gaza next year.

Facing the threat of civil war from Jewish settlers, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today nothing would deter him from pushing forward with a parliamentary vote on his plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.

Israel’s internal security service chief warned today that as many as 200 Jewish settlers want to see Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dead because of his plan to dismantle settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.