2 Israelis, 2 Palestinians wounded in Gaza clash

JERUSALEM - At least two Israelis and two Palestinians have been injured in violence on the Gaza-Israel border.

Israeli rescue workers say Palestinians fired two mortar shells from Gaza, slightly wounding two. Channel 10 TV said the two were soldiers. Israel opened fire on Palestinians near the border, wounding two, said Palestinian Health Ministry official Moaiya Hassanain. He said they were farmers, but Israeli media said they were planting explosives.

Hassanain said a third Palestinian was still in the field. Israeli media said he was killed in the exchange.

The Israeli military said only that two mortar shells were fired.

Border incidents between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel have been relatively infrequent in recent weeks.

Report: No sign of West Bank settlement slowdown

JERUSALEM - There is no sign of a slowdown in the construction of homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank despite Israel's announcement that it has stopped approving new building, the Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said in a report issued Sunday.

Under U.S. pressure to freeze settlements, Israel indicated last week it had stopped green-lighting new construction projects, part of an attempt to bridge the gap between the two allies. The efforts to achieve an elusive agreement on settlements will continue this week at a London meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell.

But while Peace Now confirms the freeze on approval for new projects, the group's report says settlement construction is continuing and that settlers can easily build thousands of housing units based on old plans that have already been approved.

There is existing permission for the construction of up to 40,000 housing units, the report said. Construction has begun on around 600 new housing units in 2010, it said. "There is no settlement freeze," Peace Now leader Yariv Oppenheimer said.Readmore

Peres: Nasrallah speeches amusing

Israel is not interested in war with Lebanon, with which all conflicts can be resolved through dialogue, President Shimon Peres told Kuwaiti daily al-Rai.

In an interview set to be published Sunday, Peres said that Shiite group Hezbollah serves nothing but its own narrow interests, and that he believes it will continue to fight Israel even if the latter withdraws from the disputed Shebaa Farms and the border village of Ghajar.

According to the president, Israel is aware of the fact the organization has some 80,000 rockets, "Which could lead to a catastrophe for the Lebanese people." He stressed that the weapons used by Hezbollah had been bought with Iranian money and brought to Lebanon through Syria.

Asked what he thought was Hezbollah's raison-d'être, Peres replied that the Iran-sponsored group has set up a military force parallel to the Lebanese army and has founded a state within a state.

Referring to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's frequent speeches, the Israeli president claimed they have become nothing more than a "source of amusement." Readmore

US raps Israel over limit on Palestinian-Americans

JERUSALEM - The United States has complained to Israel over rules that keep Palestinian-Americans from entering Israel, officials said Thursday.

A travel update posted by the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem says that for some time, Israel has not permitted Palestinians who also hold American passports to enter through Israel's Ben-Gurion international airport, requiring that they use the Allenby Bridge land crossing from Jordan directly into the West Bank.

Since spring this year, travelers using the Israeli-controlled bridge crossing have had their passports stamped permitting travel only in Palestinian controlled areas, the update said.

Israeli Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabin Hadad said there is a general ban on Palestinians entering Israel and the rules are applied regardless of what other nationalities they might also hold.

"It does not matter if they are American, French or British," she told The Associated Press. "If they are residents of the (Palestinian) territories, then we regard them first and foremost as local residents."Readmore

Israel furious over Swedish newspaper article

JERUSALEM - Israel and the Swedish Embassy responded furiously Wednesday to a Swedish newspaper article that suggested Israeli troops killed Palestinians and harvested their organs.

The article published Monday in Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest circulation daily, implies a link between those charges and the recent arrest in the U.S. of an American Jew for illicit organ trafficking. Later the reporter told Israel Radio he did not know if the allegations were true.

Headlined "Our sons are plundered for their organs," the story made news in Israel, where some commentators compared it to medieval libels that Jews killed Christian children for their blood. Daniel Seaman, who heads Israel's government press office, said the article played on "vile anti-Semitic themes."

The article was illustrated with a photograph of a dead Palestinian man with a line of surgical stitches running the length of his torso, apparently taken after an autopsy, as well as pictures of stone-throwing youths and Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, a New York resident arrested in an FBI sting last month and charged with plotting to buy a kidney from an Israeli and sell it to an American patient for $160,000.Readmore

Peres poems turned to song on his 86th birthday

TEL AVIV, Israel - Shimon Peres has been a prime minister and a peacemaker. Now he's a poet.

To mark the 86th birthday of Israel's elder statesman and ceremonial president, Israeli artists launched an album featuring songs adapted from the largely unknown poems he penned over a political career spanning nearly seven decades - including some scribbled during meetings of Israel's Cabinet.

On Sunday, some of Israel's top musicians sang Peres poems at a gala concert honoring him. The sentimental odes include a collection of love songs, impressions from his youth and earnest paeans to the beauty of the Land of Israel.

He also wrote songs that were inspired by his illustrious political career, such as "Be not sad, Israel," chronicling his feelings after a 1996 suicide bombing in Jerusalem. "Why should an Israeli visit Doha?" speaks of his groundbreaking visit to the Arab city.

"The sounds ring out 'recover and renew'/An east sinking in blood and fire," reads a line from "A new Middle East," which takes its title from Peres famous political mantra. "The time has come for a new vision."Readmore

Global Warming Effects in India Hit Jordan and Israel's Dead Sea Potash

:: Green Prophet ::A recent article in Israel's Globes financial newspaper, explores how Israel's valuable exports of Dead Sea mined potash to India will be reduced this year due to the weakest monsoon season in India in five years.

The article Weak Monsoon Dries up Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL) Potash Exports may result in a reduction of Israeli potash exports to India by nearly 12% as compared to the amount shipped in 2008. And it could save the depleting face of the Dead Sea, heavily mined for this resource used in the fertilizer business.

At an amount of 2.42 million tons of the salt and potassium based chemicals, at a price of $460 US per ton, the prices that Israel and Jordan are seeing is a 26% drop from 2008.

China, another big potash producer, has also seen a reduction in its exports of the chemicals, and plans to reduce its prices to between $400 - 450 US per ton.Readmore

Israeli foreign minister suggests consul resign

JERUSALEM - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested Monday that a diplomat who warned that government policy was causing a dangerous rift in Israel-U.S. ties should resign.

Israel's consul-general in Boston, Nadav Tamir, wrote in an internal memo leaked last week that Israel's public clashes with Washington over the U.S. demand for a settlement freeze were causing "strategic damage to Israel."

"If someone is not happy and can't live with government policy, the way is not to criticize and leak but to resign," Lieberman told a meeting of Foreign Ministry officials. "With all due respect to the consul ... it is not his job to express political positions."

President Barack Obama has demanded a total halt to building in Israel's settlements in the West Bank. Israel has publicly rebuffed the demand, leading to the worst public clash between the two allies in nearly two decades.

The U.S. is Israel's most important backer, traditionally providing it with political support and large amounts of foreign aid.Readmore

Homeless Holocaust survivor leaves $100,000 gift

JERUSALEM - Hebrew University has received a surprise donation of more than $100,000 from an unexpected benefactor - a woman who survived the Nazi Holocaust and appeared to be destitute, a university official said Sunday.

Upon her death two years ago, a homeless Holocaust survivor living on the streets of New York City willed the gift to the university. The Jewish woman lived out of a shopping cart in Manhattan and had no known relatives, said Yefet Ozery, Hebrew University's director of development and public relations.

"She lived as a very poor woman. And when she died at the age of 92, it was discovered she had accumulated close to $300,000," Ozery said.

The university first learned about the gift three months ago but did not receive the money until this week. It will be used to fund scholarships for medical research students, according to the woman's wishes, Ozery said, refusing to disclose her name. The story was first reported by The Jerusalem Post daily.Readmore

Israel says tanks to get new anti-missile system

JERUSALEM - The Israeli army will begin equipping its tanks with a new anti-missile system, following stinging losses due to missiles fired by Hezbollah militants in the 2006 Lebanon war, officials said.

The Trophy system uses radar to track incoming missiles and fires a projectile to explode the missiles before they reach their target, a military official said.

Tests of the system were successful and it will be installed on the latest generation Merkava IV tanks.

According the private television station Channel 10 the system is expensive, costing around 350,000 dollars (245,000 euros) per unit.

Israel has been searching for a new defence against missiles after Hezbollah militants during the Second Lebanon War scored a number of damaging strikes against the Merkavas, considered one of the strongest tanks in the world.

Israel media have reported that of 25 modern guided missiles fired by Hezbollah militants, a quarter penetrated the tank's formidable armour and caused death or injuries among crew members.Readmore