AMMAN – An Israeli plan to release a batch of Palestinian prisoners as a "goodwill gesture" and "confidence-building measure" to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, does not signal the end of detention of thousands of other prisoners, but it could bring the outgoing Israeli government closer to securing the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas.

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents foreign journalists in Israel, is taking the Israeli government to court. Israel has refused to allow the foreign media into Gaza to report first hand on the escalating humanitarian crisis there as Israel continues to keep the coastal territory sealed from the outside world for the third consecutive week.

The situation of the civilian population in Gaza continues to deteriorate, after Israel imposed tighter sanctions on the people of Gaza, as a result of continuing rocket fire into Israeli towns. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel to lift the blockade, saying that "food and other life saving assistance is being denied to hundreds of thousands of people." What is evident is that people should not be made peons in a difficult political situation.

JERUSALEM -- Yuval Diskin, the head of Israels domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, warned the Israeli government during an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday that a violent uprising by extremist right-wing Israeli settlers is possible.

The recent acknowledgment by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of her problems in creating a coalition government, and her request for national elections can create the conditions for her coming back to power. If she succeeds, she represents a better chance for peace than her rivals Benjamin Netanyahu chairman of the hawkish Likud party and Ehud Barak, the leader of the Labor party.

And now it is Israels turn to go to the polls. Israelis will be electing next February a new 120-member parliament. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

It is hard to know whether the most appropriate reply to the sudden Israeli expressions of interest in the 2002 Arab peace plan should be "Hallelujah!" or "Who are they kidding?"

JERUSALEM -- In an upping of the tit for tat rhetoric between Tel Aviv and Tehran, several senior Iranian officials have recommended a pre-emptive strike on Israel in order to neutralize any Israeli attempt to bomb the Islamic republics alleged nuclear facilities.

JERUSALEM -- In what appears to be a desperate and last-bid effort to salvage what remains of his tattered reputation, U.S. President George W. Bush has allegedly offered Syria the return of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in return for Damascus breaking ties with its Iranian patron.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Foreign Minister and the leader of Israels ruling Kadima Party Tzipi Livni has just three weeks to cobble together a coalition government. If she is able to do this she will be Israels next prime minister, the second female to hold this post since the late Golda Meir.