The best news from Israel right now is that the ceasefire with Hamas is holding. This may be disquieting to the far right. It is an article of faith for the right that it is impossible to cut a deal with Hamas. But that is precisely what Israel did when, seeing no alternative, it agreed to the ceasefire. Hamas has demonstrated that it can end the violence when it wants to and that it can enforce peace and quiet.

Russian-Israeli relations are complex. Israel is very unhappy about Moscows close ties with two of Israels primary opponents, Iran and Syria. Nor does Israel share Moscows willingness to talk with Hamas – the radical Palestinian group now in control of the Gaza Strip which refuses to recognize Israel.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: / A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted; / A time to break down and a time to build up..." The book of Ecclesiastes has no truer follower than A

A 4X4 van took former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu up a bumpy light brown rocky track to a hilltop between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement town of Maaleh Adumim.

Moscow prosecutors confirmed on Monday that they were carrying out "checks" on the Russian translation of a sixteenth-century Jewish legal text - a statement that brought howls of protest from Israel and Jewish leaders elsewhere in Europe.

An American and a Soviet soldier meet in Berlin in 1945 and get into an argument about which of their countries is more democratic.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, reportedly bolstered by predictions that he will avoid prosecution for corruption, is due to unveil a revamped Gaza Strip withdrawal plan to his cabinet on Sunday. Aides say he is likely to win a tight vote.

Special to PLO CHAIRMAN YASSAR ARAFAT TRIUMPHANT Yasser Arafat has survived yet another Israeli siege which was intended to humiliate him, render him irrelevant to the political process and force dozens of men on Israels most wanted list to surrender.

Israel will not build new settlements or even expand existing ones in the occupied territories, despite an announcement by the housing ministry of new home construction, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said in an interview to appear Friday.

ARIEL SHARON ARRIVES TO ATTEND THE FIRST MEETING OF HIS CABINET. New Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered the 25 politicians at his cabinet table to be punctual and polite in a sign the former military man intends to run a tight ship.