#57172 Labor, Yisrael Beteinu reach an agreement on cabinet reshuffle
by Haaretz staff in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Unclear if PM will agree; Yisrael Beiteinu to get science, sport, and culture portfolio, Labor to receive welfare portfolio. ...
#57193 Bank of Israel attacks Treasury's unemployment benefit policies
by Moti Bassok in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Semiannual report concludes Israel is one of strictest countries in its criteria for benefit eligilibility. ...
#57170 Policewoman seriously wounds Palestinian driving stolen car
by Jonathan Lis in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Officer says she fired because vehicle was approaching her at high speeds, ignoring calls to stop. ...
#57122 Friedmann: Won't necessarily implement reforms I advocated
by Yuval Yoaz, Yossi Verter, Gideon Alon, Mazal Mualem in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»Professor Daniel Friedmann was sworn in Wednesday as the new justice minister after the Knesset approved his appointment by a majority of 50 to 24, with one abstention. Minutes before he
was sworn in, the new justice minister said he planned ...
#57124 Olmert and Friedmann / The war against the Supreme Court
by Yossi Verter in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»Ehud Olmert has not yet completed a year as prime minister, but he has already launched two wars: against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and against the legal establishment and the Supreme Court.
The first ended badly. The second, which began yesterda ...
#57125 The new justice minister / An agenda-based appointment
by Ze'ev Segal in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert presumably did not choose Professor Daniel Friedmann as the next justice minister because of his analytical legal mind and expertise in contract and torts law. Friedmann is being appointed because of his outspoken oppositio ...
#57126 Senior physician shot dead on drive home
by Ronit Singer-Heruti, Ran Reznick in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Professor David Niv, 57, director of the Center for Pain Medicine at Tel-Aviv Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center, was shot to death late Monday night while driving on Aluf Sadeh Street in Ramat Gan. Niv, 57, was apparently on his way to his home in Sa ...
#57127 Abdullah: Temple Mount work endangers regional stability
by Nadav Shragai, Jack Khoury, Gideon Alon, Avi Issacharoff in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»Some 2,000 police officers were deployed to the Old City of Jerusalem to guard the first day of controversial excavation work in the Temple Mount area yesterday, but only a few dozen
Muslims, primarily members of Israel's Islamic Movemen ...
#57128 Medical committees use humiliating 'fall test' to size up handicapped
by Ruth Sinai in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Medical committees charged with determining the extent to which a person is handicapped employ the "fall test" from time to time, in which the patient is told to stand or walk in order to see if he falls. Eti Ozna, for instance, has suffered from a ...
#57129 Mecca talks on PA unity gov't begin in earnest
by Haaretz staff, Reuters, Avi Issacharoff in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Preliminary talks began in Mecca today in preparation for the summit between Fatah and Hamas leaders. Both delegations traveled to Jeddah first, to meet with King Abdullah. The king met first with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and othe ...
#57130 The Mecca Summit / No democracy on the horizon
by Danny Rubinstein in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Despite optimistic forecasts of Fatah and Hamas reaching a compromise in Mecca, there is no doubt that the Palestinian national movement is at one of its lowest points in history. This stems from the fact that the Palestinians, who claim to be a cohe ...
#57131 Shendar drops charges against Borovsky
by Yuval Yoaz, Jonathan Lis in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
State Prosecutor Eran Shendar ended the investigation against Police Maj. Gen. (ret.) Ya'akov Borovsky on suspicion of trying to bribe his way into the post of national police commissioner. The breach of trust charges against Borovsky were dropp ...
#57132 The Temple Mount / Sullying the silence
by Yossi Sarid in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»The Temple Mount is indeed in our hands, rough though they may be, but that doesn't mean it's appropriate to act as though others have no stake in that territory. Were I to believe that
this lame government were capable of conspirin ...
#57133 Controversy in the Old City / 'Defend al-Aqsa campaign' strikes again
by Nadav Shragai in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
For nearly 40 years, Islam has been setting off alarm bells every time Israel digs or builds near the Temple Mount. Israel is almost always denounced as planning to undermine the foundations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, and replace the ...
#57134 Former IBA head Uri Porat dies
by Asaf Carmel in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Journalist Uri Porat, who twice served as director general of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) after years with Yedioth Ahronoth, died yesterday. In addition to his IBA stints, Porat was the media adviser for former prime ministers Menachem Be ...
#57135 British Jewish group strikes back at new left-wing group
by Amiram Barkat in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»In response to an article in yesterday's Haaretz about a new organization in Britain, Independent Jewish Voices, the Board of Deputies of British Jews rejected Independent Jewish Voice's
criticism of the board. The left-leaning Inde ...
#57136 Yad Vashem's Farsi Web site is big hit
by Amiram Barkat in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
About 20,000 people from throughout the world, including 6,000 from Iran, have visited Yad Vashem's Farsi-language Web site since its launch just 12 days ago. Dozens of Iranian visitors to the site have sent e-mails to Yad Vashem asking for mor ...
#57137 Greens celebrate victory as Safdie Plan is rejected
by Zafrir Rinat, Avi Bar-Eli in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
The National Planning and Building Council overwhelmingly rejected yesterday the controversial West Jerusalem construction project, known as the Safdie Plan, in a 24-3 vote. The three "yes" votes came from representatives of the housing and communic ...
#57138 Hair found at Rada murder scene is not of prime suspect
by Jack Khoury in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Roman Zadorov, the prime suspect in the Katzrin murder of 13-year-old Tair Rada in December, plans to plead innocent when he appears before the Nazareth District Court today. Zadorov's defense appears to have been given a boost yesterday by ini ...
#57139 Mother interviewed with baby loses unemployment benefits for one month
by Ruth Sinai in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
A woman who arrived at a job interview with her baby was denied unemployment benefits for one month, because the National Employment Service reported that she had refused the job - despite the fact that the employer had listed her as unfit for the po ...
#57140 Jackals fall prey to a rebounding gazelle population
by Zafrir Rinat in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
In recent years, a balance of terror has been threatening the Israeli gazelle population in the Golan Heights: Jackals that prey on the gazelles are multiplying. But the future of these gazelles may be brighter than expected: The last two years have ...
#57141 A free and developing market
by Dana Gilerman in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
The exhibition space at the Dresdner Tavi Gallery, set to open next month at 24 Ahva Street in Neveh Tzedek, Tel Aviv, is very impressive. This space aims to compete with the most happening galleries in the city, not only in terms of what it plans to ...
#57142 Not just basics
by Ilit Mainemer in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
The Kipling company is, for the first time, venturing away from its trademark nylon bags. It is introducing bags made of soft leather that do not fit the look identified with the company. The company says it is aiming to appeal to a new audience, one ...
#57144 Olmert's reprisal attack
by Haaretz editorial writer in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
The choice of Professor Daniel Friedmann as the next justice minister is an example of an eye-gouging appointment - with the eyes being those of the legal system and Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch. The appointment was made for unclear reasons ...
#57145 The prime minister's choice
by Uzi Benziman in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Ehud Olmert spoke with great eloquence at the Knesset on Monday, in a session marking its 58th birthday. The prime minister called on the country's law enforcement bodies to never stop investigating and attempting to repair the world. He also, h ...
#57146 The pardon on the horizon
by Amir Oren in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»The person with the supreme and direct authority to appoint a new justice minister is Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but, as with all the government faults, he has a senior partner: Amir
Peretz. When the results of the Knesset elections were fir ...
#57147 What happened after 3 A.M.?
by Amos Harel in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
Aluf Benn reported this week in Haaretz that the prime minister emerged satisfied from his testimony before the Winograd Committee. Ehud Olmert believes that he succeeded in convincing the members of the committee of the justice of the last move of t ...
#57148 The anti-Israel lobby
by Jonathan Spyer in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
This week saw the launching of the Independent Jewish Voices initiative by a group of prominent left-of-center Jews in the U.K. The initiative intends, according to its founding statement, to "promote the expression of alternative Jewish voices." Its ...
#57149 The edicts of Elyashiv
by Yair Sheleg in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
T., a Haredi woman, divorced her husband several years ago. The husband conditioned the granting of a get (religious divorce) on allowing all other issues that had been discussed at the outset in rabbinical court to continue to be discussed there. Af ...
#57150 A Hasid - and a professor
by Yair Ettinger in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
The stone walls and bulletin boards in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods were covered last week with huge obituaries, and large notices also filled the front page of Hamodia. Hasidic courts, institutions and funds, and ultra-Orthodox pers ...
#57151 Where should peace begin?
by Akiva Eldar in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
It is very hard to ignore the bloody events of the last few days in the Middle East - from Palestine and Iraq to Lebanon. But one very unique event caught my attention, even though it was not the usual violence: On Monday, Ghaleb Majadele, a member o ...
#57155 Medical panels use degrading test to determine disabilities
by Ruth Sinai in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
In 'fall test', patient must stand to see if he falls; test determines extent of disability, eligibility for aid. ...
#57156 Adelson foundation gives $25 million to Taglit-birthright
by Shlomo Shamir, Amiram Barkat in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»The Adelson family foundation on Tuesday announced a $25 million donation to the Taglit-birthright israel program, which funds free trips to Israel for young Jews from around the world. The
donation, which senior Jewish officials in NY descri ...
#57157 Police limit Temple Mount access, fearing further protests over dig
by Haaretz staff, Agencies in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday called on Islamic nations to retaliate against Israel for its construction work at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of
Jerusalem, state television reported. "The worl ...
#57168 Dozens of Bedouin left homeless after six houses destroyed in Negev
by Mijal Grinberg in Ha'aretz, 7 February 2007
»The Interior Ministry and the Israel Lands Administration on Wednesday razed six homes occupied by some 70 Bedouin in an unrecognized village in the Negev. Police officers accompanying the
ministry and ILA demolition team arrested four reside ...