* Knesset opens battle to topple Olmert Thursday’s Knesset session will mark the opening battle in the war to topple the Olmert government.

* Iraq pleads for funds to rebuild Iraq’s prime minister has appealed for other countries to write off its debts, at the start of a summit called to try to rebuild and stabilise the country.

* Meridor offers reassurances to Syria Israel’s ambassador to the US said Wednesday his country is privately reassuring its Arab neighbor it is not seeking a confrontation.

* Warrants issued in Darfur conflict The International Criminal Court on Wednesday issued its first arrest warrants in Sudan’s Darfur conflict.

* Army meddling ‘threatens Turkey’s EU chances’ The European Union warned the Turkish military yesterday that its interference in the country’s politics could jeopardise its chances of joining the EU.

* Nasrallah praises Israel’s ‘admission of defeat’ In an unprecedented praise of developments in Israel, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday he “respects” his enemy’s verdict of failure in last summer’s war with his guerrillas in Lebanon.

* Turkey headed for snap polls in July A Turkish parliamentary committee Wednesday set July 22 as the date for snap general elections after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for polls to end a simmering crisis over a disputed presidential vote.

* ‘Israel has right to protect itself’ While asserting that Israel’s security is “nonnegotiable,” French presidential front-runner Nicholas Sarkozy also says it must not prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state if peace is to be achieved.

* Army undergoing revolution, Peretz says “The decision to go to war was the right one,” Defense Minister Amir Peretz insisted Wednesday, in a first response to the conclusions of the Winograd Commission.

* Jewish Agency downplays Iraqi aliyah An Iraqi family that reportedly immigrated to Israel this week is not the beginning of a “wave of aliya.”

* Bush vetoes Iraq troop withdrawal measure US President George W. Bush on Tuesday night vetoed legislation to pull US troops out of Iraq in a historic showdown with Congress.

* Shadowy Iraq office accused of sectarian agenda Iraq’s prime minister has created an entity within his government that U.S. and Iraqi military officials say is being used as a smokescreen to hide an extreme Shiite agenda.

* Kadima faction chairman: If Olmert doesn’t resign, I will Kadima faction chairman Avigdor Yitzhaki told Israel Radio on Wednesday morning that if the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not heed calls to quit following the Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War.

* Speaker of PA Legislature: Kill Every Last Jew & American In a televised address to a packed mosque, the Acting Speaker of the Palestinian Authority’s Legislative Council called for the killing of every last Jew and American.

* Olmert admits: I am not sure I will get through this The current political crisis might force him out of office, Prime Minister Ehud Olmertht was quoted as saying in a Channel 2 report Tuesday evening.

* Ancient Samaritan sect marks Passover sacrifice near Nablus Dressed in white and spattered in blood, members of the tiny Samaritan sect gathered until the early hours of Tuesday for one of Israel’s most colorful religious ceremonies – the nighttime Passover sacrifice.

* EU officials call for end to PA embargo In a break with EU policy, European parliamentarians met Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas in Gaza City on Tuesday and called for an end to the aid embargo on the Palestinian Authority.

* Russian Political Movements Hold May Day Marches, Rallies in Moscow Thousands of Russians hit the streets of Moscow Tuesday as an array of political forces held marches and rallies on May Day.

* PM calls for new outpost removal plan Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed Defense Minister Amir Peretz to present a plan for the evacuation of the illegal West Bank outposts by the end of the month.

* Will Turkey become an Islamist state? Turkey, the world’s prime example of a mainly Muslim country as a secular democratic state, may be losing that status.

* ‘US vision for new MidEast will fail’ Syrian President Bashar Assad predicted Monday that the US vision for a “new Middle East” would fail as the region’s conflicts continue to escalate.

* Turk court advised to reject challenge: media A Turkish court has been urged to reject an opposition challenge to the presidential election that has split Turkey.

* PM vows to carry on, fix failures In a taped message broadcast on Monday night, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert – reading from a text – admitted that mistakes were made and that the committee’s findings were “grave and difficult.”

* Iran president takes message to people In the town of Khorrambid, 700km south of Tehran, thousands of people have been waiting for Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the Iranian president.

* Bush Seeks to Reassure Russia on Arms, E.U. on Warming President Bush tried to reassure Russia yesterday that his proposed new missile defense system represents no threat.

* Legal Expert: Findings Mean Olmert Must Resign Following the grave findings of the Winograd Commission on Monday afternoon, Atty. Yosef Fuchs of the Land of Israel Legal Forum issued a statement saying that Olmert has no choice but to resign.

* Hezbollah: Winograd report is proof we were victorious Hezbollah on Monday hailed a report into the Second Lebanon War, which accused the Israeli leadership of serious failures during the conflict.

* Campaign to Upgrade the Old City’s ‘Small Wall’ Unknown to most visitors to the Western Wall, the remnant of the Holy Temple compound extends to the north far beyond what they can see – and a campaign is underway to publicize this.

* Risk of renewed east-west confrontation, says German FM German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has warned of a risk of a new east-west conflict following a sharp deterioration in relations between Moscow and western states in recent months.

* US and EU agree ‘single market’ The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington.

* Egypt slams Palestinian rocket attacks Hamas said on Sunday that its military wing plans to kidnap IDF soldiers if Israel decides to conduct a large-scale ground-invasion of the Gaza Strip.

* Huge rally for Turkish secularism Hundreds of thousands of people have rallied in Istanbul in support of secularism in Turkey, amid a row over a vote for the country’s next president.

* IDF chief: Gaza incursion inevitable Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi indicated at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that there may be no choice but to put IDF boots on the ground to stop attacks from Gaza.

* Iran to attend key Iraq meeting Iran says it will attend a key meeting on Iraq’s security situation.

* New Noah’s Ark ready to sail The massive central door in the side of Noah’s Ark was thrown open Saturday drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder.

* World rallies for Darfur action Protests have taken place around the world to demand intervention to end the fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region.

* Olmert: Herzl’s vision was missing military aspect “(Theodore Herzl) did not only envision, but also built a strong foundation and created tools to transform that vision into a political reality.”

* Poll: Palestinians disillusioned with unity gov’t Palestinians are increasingly disillusioned with political parties and their new unity government and feel more threatened by growing lawlessness.

* Hamas: New Intifada could erupt if West fails to lift embargo Hamas leader Khaled Meshal has warned that Israel could face another Palestinian uprising unless the West lifted its aid embargo and conditions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank improved.

* Turkish army statement sparks EU concern The European Union has warned Turkey’s military to stay out of politics and show respect for democracy.

* Putin steps up missiles warning Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that US plans to build a missile defence system in eastern Europe would raise the risk of “mutual destruction”.

* Catholic bishops to face anti-Semitism The need to step up the fight against anti-Semitism will be a key issue for the world’s Roman Catholic bishops at a meeting at the Vatican next year.

* Blair wants end to “abstract” EU The EU needs to focus on issues of concern to its citizens, rather than spend years on “abstract constitutional debate”, the UK prime minister says.

* Turkish government slams army threat Turkey’s Islamist-rooted government sharply criticised an army threat to intervene in domestic politics and said on Saturday the military must remain under civilian control.

* Global net use makes rapid rise The net is helping to close the digital divide between industrialised nations, suggests a report.

* A 10-day attack could delay Iran’s nuclear race by years “Iran’s nuclear program can be thrown back by years in a ten day attack using thousands of Tomahawk cruise missiles,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

* EU warns Turkish army over vote The European Union has warned Turkey’s military not to interfere in politics, amid a row over the Islamist-rooted ruling party’s candidate for president.

* Saudi king refuses al-Maliki Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has denied Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki entrance into Saudi Arabia.

* Saudis say terror sweep nets 172 extremists Saudi Arabia announced that an anti-terrorism sweep netted 172 Islamic extremists and stopped plans to mount air attacks on the kingdom’s oil refineries, break militants out of jail and send suicide attackers to kill government officials.

* Dollar at record low against euro The US economy grew at its weakest pace for four years during the first quarter of 2007, figures from the US Commerce Department show.

* IDF prepares for Syrian attack on Golan The IDF on Thursday held intensive training maneuvers in preparation for a feared Syrian attack on the Golan Heights.

* President vote set to split Turks Turkey’s parliament is about to begin voting for a new president, but the election could be overshadowed by an opposition boycott and procedural row.

* Israel may get F-22s if nation at risk The United States would be inclined to allow the sale of advanced stealth F-22 fighter jets to the Israeli Air Force if the State of Israel’s security was in jeopardy.

* Russia’s treaty threat irks Nato Nato members have expressed “grave concern” over Russia’s threat to suspend participation in an arms treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe.

* Livni: Gaza turned into ‘nest of terror’ “The Palestinians are using the security fence as an excuse to continue their violent attacks, but from Israel’s point of view, the fence saves lives and does not diminish the possibility of creating a Palestinian state.

* Jewish Majority: Stable Now; Growth Spurt in 2025 As Israel enters its 60th year, the American-Israel Demographic Research Group (AIDRG) provides some good news: The ground is being prepared for a major Jewish demographic boost, beginning in 2025.

* New plan advocates land swap between Israel, PA Prime Minister Ehud Olmert might have shelved his realignment plan, but one of the plan’s initiators has different ideas.

* Olmert’s future in limbo ahead of Lebanon war report The political future of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, implicated in a series of corruption probes, hung in the balance Thursday ahead of a report on last year’s war against Hezbollah.

* Somali PM Claims Win, but Battles Linger Somalis who fled the government’s offensive against Islamic insurgents in Mogadishu began returning to the shattered capital Friday.

* Senior Algerian Islamist militant killed A leader of an Algerian Islamist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda was killed Thursday in clashes with the army.

* Iranian official: US seeks to undermine clerical regime A top security official accused the United States Thursday of seeking to undermine Iran’s clerical regime.

* Palestinians ‘are learning’ from Iraq A leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the suicide car bombing that killed nine US soldiers in Iraq on Monday bolstered his belief that the US would soon be defeated and retreat from “Muslim lands.”

* Egypt leans on Hamas to stop Kassams Egypt has threatened to cut off its relations with Hamas unless the movement halts its rocket attacks on Israel.

* Russia in defence warning to US Russia may stop implementing a key defence treaty because of concerns over US plans for a missile shield in Europe, President Vladimir Putin said.

* MK Hasson: Prepare for war with Israel’s Arabs MK Israel Hasson (Yisrael Beiteinu) said on Thursday that in a “normal” country, former Knesset Member Azmi Bishara, would already be behind bars.

* Syria’s ruling party grabs most of the seats in elections The ruling coalition took an overwhelming majority of seats in Syria’s parliamentary elections.

* US House votes for Iraq deadline The US House of Representatives has narrowly approved a bill making further funding of the war in Iraq conditional on a timetable for a US troop pullout.

* Maliki wants Iranian leaders at talks on stabilizing Iraq Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday he is willing to go to Iran to convince its leaders to attend an upcoming key regional summit aimed at stabilizing Iraq.

* Israeli anxiety over ‘enemy within’ “There’s one thing in common between Arabs and Jews in Israel,” says Amnon Rubinstein with a wry smile. “They can’t stand each other. It’s sad but its true”.

* Barroso forced to change mini-summit plans European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has been forced to scale down plans for a mini-summit next month with select EU leaders.

* Barroso organizing mini-summit on EU constitution European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is in the process of organizing a mini-summit brainstorming on a new-look EU constitution.

* Iraqi politicians say government is failing Iraqi politicians — frustrated by violence throughout the country and the glacial pace of parliamentary lawmaking — say the nearly one-year-old government is failing.

* 25 percent of Ethiopian immigrants traumatized A new study reveals that 25 percent of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) triggered by their move to Israel.

* Iran and EU seek to break impasse Iran’s top nuclear negotiator and the EU’s foreign policy chief are to meet in Turkey in an attempt to break the deadlock over Iran’s nuclear program.

* Russians Pay Last Respect to First President Yeltsin Tearful Russians filed past the open coffin of former president Boris Yeltsin inside a vast Moscow cathedral Tuesday.

* Turkey ‘must have secular leader’ Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has pledged to adhere to secular principles if, as expected, he is elected president.

* Hamas Attack Was Cover For Kidnap Attempt The barrage of Kassam rocket fire from Gaza during Independence Day celebrations Tuesday was part of an extensive Hamas-led kidnapping operation, thwarted by the IDF.

* Russia threatens veto over Kosovo Russia has threatened to veto in the UN Security Council a plan to give Kosovo a form of supervised independence.

* Hundreds of rightists spend night at Homesh Hundreds of settlers and right-wing activists were forced to spend the night at the evacuated West Bank settlement of Homesh.

* IDF presents PM with proposal to renew targeted assassinations Senior defense officials on Wednesday presented Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with a proposal to resume targeted assassinations of Palestinian militants and hits on infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

By: Jeremy Last – The Jerusalem Post

Of all the Independence Days in the 59 years of the State of Israel, the 19th Yom Ha’atzma’ut is seen by many as one of the most significant, a day that carries with it the weight of history and represents the start of a period of change in the attitude and atmosphere of the country as a whole.

The weeks and months leading up to the 1967 Six Day War, when the future of the country’s existence hung by a thread, and the period that followed, had an enormous effect on the people living in what was then still a fledgling country.

That year’s Independence Day took place less than three weeks before war officially broke out, in the midst of growing tension and concern. But still, like every year before, on the fifth of Iyar the nation celebrated Israel’s statehood.

Read more….

By: Ynet

As Israel approaches Independence Day, population is nine times higher than in 1948; millions more live in big cities

As Israel’s 59th Independence Day approaches, the country’s population stands at 7,150,000 residents, almost nine times its population of 806,000 at the time of the state’s creation in 1948.

According to the Central Statistics Bureau, 5,415,000 (76 percent) are Jewish, 1,425,000 (20 percent) are Arab and 310,000 (4 percent) are other.

Read more….