Israel News 18/11/2008

Nasrallah denies poisoning reports in an interview on Al Manar. Meawhile Iran names Nasrallah's cousin as his successor in the event of his demise telling the world that Iran will continue to assist Hizbullah.11/18/08

The probability of a war between Israel and its enemies over the next year is low, military intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said Monday. adding that the world is waiting to see how the financial crisis plays out, and how the new US administration deals with the threat from Iran. 11/18/08

A special series on Infolive.tv. People from all walks of life and origins speak to Infolive.tv about how they feel as an Israeli and what Israel means to them. 11/18/08

According to a recent poll of voters commissioned by The Israel Project, only 6 percent of Americans think the United States should stand behind the Palestinians in Middle East peace talks. Comparatively, 66 percent of those polled said the U.S. should support Israel in the peace process. 80 percent of Republican voters and 59 percent of Democratic were among those backing U.S. support for Israel. Despite the support, almost two-thirds of Americans said they were more concerned about America’s nuclear standoff with Iran. 11/17/08

Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his stance on Sunday that improving the Palestinians' financial situation would help advance peace. Speaking at a meeting in Jerusalem, the opposition leader said that with the help of Egypt and Jordan, Israel should help build peace by improving the lives of Israel’s Palestinian neighbors. Netanyahu noted that poverty was a major cause in the rise of radical Islam, therefore by improving the Palestinian economy Israel could hurt radical Islam and contribute to peace in the region. 11/17/08

The High Court on Sunday instructed settlers occupying a house in Hebron to evacuate it within three days, but a coalition of right-wing organizations, Members of Knesset and West Bank rabbis said they plan to oppose the move firmly. The disputed property is located between the settlement of Kiryat Arba and Hebron. In an emergency meeting on Sunday in Kiryat Arba, the opponents of the evacuation pledged that the settlers would not be removed by Wednesday as the court had demanded. 11/17/08

The defense establishment will allow 30 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday. The decision to allow aid to enter Gaza, despite the continued mortar and Qassam attacks on Israel, was made following a meeting by Israel’s defense establishment on the matter. The aid sent to Gaza will include humanitarian equipment, food and medications, yet it was decided that fuel and other goods would not be allowed into the Strip until further notice. 11/17/08

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Sunday that Iran is clearly feeling the effect of economic sanctions imposed by the international community over its nuclear program. Speaking at the end of the first day of his visit to Israel, Miliband said that Iran was facing five UN resolutions demanding that it halt uranium enrichment. He added that all diplomatic means were being pursued to pressure the Iranians, but did not elaborate as to what might ensue if diplomatic and economic pressure failed to deter Teheran. 11/17/08

According to a report by the Defense News Website, Israel and Germany have been cooperating together in secret to develop a nuclear missile detection system Code-named Project Bluebird. The system is based on the assumption that in a nuclear strike, decoy missiles could be launched along with those carrying nuclear warheads to confuse and overwhelm missile defense shields - Project Bluebird is designed to avert such a scenario. 11/17/08

Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Gaza terrorists against further breaches of the five-month old truce on Sunday, speaking shortly after the Israel Air Force killed four terrorists who were firing mortars into Israel from the coastal territory. Speaking during Sunday’s cabinet meeting Olmert said that he had told the IDF to present plans for various operations against the Hamas regime in Gaza, but gave no timeframe for an Israeli offensive. 11/16/08

The British Sunday Times newspaper reported on Sunday that President-elect Barack Obama said he would support the Arab Peace Initiative originally proposed by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. Due to the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East, in which the majority of Arab states fear the rise of Islamic extremism and the looming Iranian threat, many leading American officials believe that Obama’s first year in office could be the right time for a breakthrough. 11/16/08

The Israeli Air Force killed four Palestinians terrorists launching mortars into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Sunday, just hours after another group of terrorists struck Israel in a separate rocket attack. Since the resurgence of the violence nearly two weeks ago, Palestinians have launched over 170 rockets and mortars at Israel, while Israel has responded by killing 15 terrorists. Meanwhile, Israel is keeping its crossings into Gaza shut because of the ongoing rocket fire. 11/16/08

President Bush unexpectedly met with Foregin Minister Tzipi Livni and President Shimon Peres on the sidelines of a UN sponsored interfaith conference in New York on Thursday. During the brief, unscheduled and warm encounter Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told President George W. Bush that he had helped advance Israeli-Palestinian peace hopes, and congratulated him for standing up to terrorism. 11/14/08

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired two Kassam rockets at Israeli border communities on Sunday morning. The two rockets landed in open areas south of Sderot causing no injuries or damage. The rocket attacks follows an almost 24 hour period of calm in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel on Saturday, just a day after Palestinian terrorists fired a barrage of 17 rockets at Sderot, Ashkelon and surroundings areas in response to the death of a Palestinian terrorist in Gaza. 11/16/08

On November 12th, 2008 secular businessman Nir Barkat made history by defeating ultra-orthodox candidate Meir Porush to claim the coveted title of mayor of Jerusalem. Throughout the entire day leading up to the crucial election moment, Infolive.tv followed Nir Barkat to document the chain of events as they unfolded. Join Infolive.tv as we take a play by play look at Nir Barkat’s on amazing victory on this historic election day. 11/13/08