ISRAEL

Iranian missiles can reach Israeli nuclear sites and Tehran will respond firmly to any attack, a top commander said on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged on Tuesday to press hard for Palestinian statehood, putting Washington on a possible collision course with Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu.

International donors pledged $4.481 billion on Monday to help the Palestinian economy and rebuild Gaza after Israel's three-week offensive, insisting their funds bypass the territory's Hamas rulers.

Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest bank in terms of assets, reassured investors on Monday they would receive interest payments on deferred capital notes that had been downgraded by the Standard & Poor's Maalot ratings agency.

Israel's right-wing Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has abandoned efforts to woo centrist Tzipi Livni into forming a broad coalition government, a spokeswoman said on Saturday.

Israeli right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Tzipi Livni met Friday but failed to agree on forming a coalition government and left it unclear whether negotiations between their parties would continue.

The Vatican said on Friday that an apology by a traditionalist bishop who denied the Holocaust fell short of meeting the Holy See's demand for a full and public recanting of his position.

The Palestinian Authority is to ask foreign governments on Monday for $1.33 billion to repair and renew homes, industry and other facilities in the Gaza Strip after last month's Israeli offensive.

Differences over Palestinian statehood are likely to scupper Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to forge a broad government with his main rival, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, an official from his Likud party said Thursday.

Surrounded by wreckage and many destroyed buildings and infrastructure, Palestinians are now seeking to rebuild the destroyed territory and seeking roughly $2.8 billion in foreign aid.

the massive concrete barrier separating Israel from the Palestinians. Over the Internet, a group of Palestinian graffiti artists is offering to spray-paint your personal message on Israel's towering security wall in the occupied West Bank. It costs 30 euros ($40) per message and they can be as solemn or wacky as you want. Everything goes, except for obscene, offensive or extremist hate speech. Cl...

Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish Likud party launched talks on Wednesday with right-wing parties on forming Israel's next government after he failed in initial efforts to enlist his main centrist rival in a broad coalition.

A bomb killed a French teenager and wounded at least 20 other people in a crowded square near a popular tourist bazaar in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday, officials said.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will replace Israel's lead envoy to Egyptian-brokered truce talks with Hamas after he publicly criticized the government's negotiating strategy, officials said on Monday.

Right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accepted a mandate to form Israel's next government and immediately called for a broad, national unity coalition with centrist and left-wing partners.

Benjamin Netanyahu's chances of becoming Israel's prime minister were boosted on Thursday by the conditional backing of an ultranationalist politician who emerged as a kingmaker in a photo-finish election.

Israel decided Wednesday against lifting its border blockade of the Gaza Strip until Hamas agreed to the release of a captured Israeli soldier, putting a longer-term ceasefire proposal by Egypt on hold.

Israel is involved in a covert war of sabotage inside Iran to try to delay Tehran's alleged attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, a British newspaper said on Tuesday, quoting a former CIA agent and intelligence experts.

Software giant Microsoft is in talks to buy Israel's 3DV Systems, a maker of three-dimensional video imaging, financial website TheMarker.com reported on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, despite the stormy weather in Tel Aviv, Israelis set out to vote in a closely contested election between right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu and the centrist Kadima party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Four smuggling tunnels and a weapons depot in Gaza have been attacked by Israeli military.