Israeli backpacker escapes jail over Chile forest fire

An Israeli backpacker has accepted a deal to pay £6,300 compensation to a Chilean environmental group after he was arrested for causing a devastating forest fire.

The money will be used to fund the purchase of 50,000 trees for the Chilean forestry agency to plant.

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Israelis: no attack on Iran until after Madonna gig

Israeli fans of Madonna have appealed to Benjamin Netanyahu to postpone action against Iran until after her Tel Aviv concert.

Fans of the singer, who announced this week that she will open her global tour with a show in Israel, launched a campaign on Facebook.

They are asking the Israeli Prime Minister to say "no to war with Iran" until after the May 29 gig.

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Terror 'not depressing' for Israelis

It may be intended as psychological warfare, but terrorism does not demoralise Israelis, researchers have found.

People were no less satisfied with life when terror attacks were at a high during the Second Intifada than when they reduced, according to academics who have written a report on the subject.

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'Price tag' attack on interfaith Jerusalem school

Extremist Jewish vandals are believed to be behind an attack on a mixed Jewish and Arab school in Jerusalem.

Police found Hebrew graffiti calling for "Death to Arabs" on the wall of the "Hand in Hand" school. At the same time, vandals targeted a Greek Orthodox monastery in Jerusalem.

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Fogel killer 'blessed' on television

The Palestinian Authority's TV channel broadcast greetings to the convicted murderers of the Fogel family last week.

During a programme in which Palestinian prisoners are sent messages by their relatives, the mother of Hakim Awad, one of the two men who brutally killed Ehud and Ruth Fogel and their three young children in Itamar last March, "blessed" her "dear son" who "carried out the operatio

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No date for new Israeli-Palestinian talks

A month after Israel and the Palestinian Authority resumed direct negotiations, they already seem to have reached an impasse.

The talks, that took place in a series of five meetings under Jordanian auspices in Amman with the participation of representatives of the Quartet, (the US, Russia, the EU and the UN), have foundered over the Palestinian demand for a more detailed proposal from Israel on

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Netanyahu wins primary after concessions

Benjamin Netanyahu has overwhelmingly beaten his right-wing rival in the Likud Party primaries.

As expected, Moshe Feiglin, leader of the "Jewish Leadership" faction of Likud, picked up just a quarter of the votes. The Israeli Prime Minister now has a strong mandate from his party to go forward to the national elections, due by next year.

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Palestinian freed in Shalit deal arrested

A convicted Palestinian criminal who was released in order to secure the freedom of Gilad Shalit has been arrested near Hebron.

Ayman Sharawna was one of the 1,027 prisoners – including some serving life sentences – released early in the exchange deal last year.

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James Blake performs in Israel despite boycott campaign

British musician James Blake performed in Tel Aviv this weekend despite a concerted effort by anti-Israel campaigners for him to cancel the show.

Mr Blake, a runner-up in BBC's Sound of 2011 poll and a nominee for last year's Mercury Music Prize, was the latest target of the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel.

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Bibi agrees new settlement deal

A last-minute agreement between the settlers and the government over the future of the largest outpost in the West Bank may avert a violent confrontation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored the settlers on Sunday to accept the government's previous offer to rebuild the homes of 50 families of the Migron outpost at a site nearby, enabling it to comply with the court order to dismantle th

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Campaign to move Ben Gurion out to sea

A new campaign in Israel is proposing an unusual solution to the country's housing crisis - move Ben-Gurion airport out to sea.

The Natbag 2020 campaign proposes vacating the state-owned site of the airport - known in Hebrew by the acronym Natbag - within eight years, and using it to build a city with 500,000 homes.

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Arrests over latest attack on Bet Shemesh woman

Israeli police have arrested five suspects over an attack on a woman who was putting up posters in Bet Shemesh.

The incident, which police said involved strictly Orthodox men, saw Natalie Mashiach pelted with stones. The 27-year-old's car's tyres were slashed and she was surrounded by a group of men.

She was putting up an advert for Israel's national lottery at the time.

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Draconian 'illegals' law

A new law allowing the authorities to detain, for up to three years, illegal immigrants caught in Israel, was passed by the Knesset last week.

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