To coincide with this year’s Yom Ha’atzmaut theme—Heritage—the Prime Minister’s Office rolled out a special campaign to highlight past prime ministers in private moments. The project began this week and entails photo albums on the PMO’s Facebook page, with archived images of past leaders like David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin. The photos range from the mundane, like a haircut for Yitzhak Shamir, to the historic, like Menachem Begin’s accords with Jimmy …More

Alina Dain Sharon, JNS.org During the Six Day War, when famous Israeli spy Eli Cohen worked for the Mossad in Syria, he suggested that Syrian soldiers plant eucalyptus trees near army fortifications in the Golan Heights. He told Syrian officials this would make Israel think the area was unfortified and would help Syrian soldiers stationed there survive the heat. Shortly after, he conveyed the locations of the trees to Israeli officials, helping the Israeli army know exactly where the Syrian bunkers were. The …More

Tests on former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon showed that he has significant brain activity, despite being presumed to be in a vegetative state. The tests conducted at Soroka University Medical Center to assess to what extent Sharon's brain responded to external stimuli showed significant brain activity, including when he saw photos of his family and heard his son's voice, the medical center said in a statement issued Sunday. The tests were conducted late last week. “Information from the external …More

Maxine Dovere, JNS.org Dan Cohen describes Ilan Ramon, the first and only Israeli astronaut, as “a man used to rising to the occasion.” On Jan. 31 at 9 p.m., "Space Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope"—a documentary directed by Cohen—will air on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Ramon’s death. Israel sent one of its best on NASA’s fatal Columbia mission: Israel Air Force (IAF) Colonel Ramon was 46, an engineer (electronics and …More

Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren has announced his intention to resign in the spring of next year, and a replacement has already been appointed. Current Netanyahu advisor Ron Dermer will step into the post, earmarking a career already dotted with a vast number of diplomatic positions. Dermer, like Oren, is American born, but gave up his American citizenship when he became Israel’s Minister for Economic Affairs in the US. The 43-year-old was born in Miami Beach, FL, the son of the local mayor and …More

A former trash dump near Tel Aviv was the site of a festival Hanukkah lighting. Benjamin Netanyahu and Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan were on hand on the second night of Hanukkah to light the candles at one of Tel Aviv’s newest green areas. Fireworks, a children’s choir and a neon green menorah celebrated both the holiday and the transformation of the former Hiriya waste dump into green space for families and city dwellers just minutes from Tel Aviv. “I’m impressed by the …More

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he is leaving politics after more than half a century and will not run in the upcoming elections. Barak made the surprise announcement Monday, less than a week after Israel's military ended its Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza, for which he has received accolades for his successful leadership. He said he would leave the government after the January elections. Barak, of the Independence Party, has been courted recently by left-wing and center-left parties to join with …More

It wasn’t Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call for early elections that was unusual. After all, only a few governments have served a full term in Israel’s 64-year history. What was unusual was that seemingly everyone on Israel’s political spectrum -- from left to right -- appeared to agree that there was no real contest about who would be the next prime minister. Barring any major surprises, Netanyahu is expected to win a third term handily when voting is held early next year; elections had …More

Natan Sharansky, chief of the Jewish Agency, told Israel Radio last month that fears of a war with Iran are causing many would-be immigrants to Israel to delay their plans to make aliyah. Despite Jewish Agency figures which had revealed a two percent increase in aliyah in the first six months of 2012, Sharansky argued, "For months now, we've had dozens of instances in which potential immigrants have been postponing their aliyah; people who had already finalized their aliyah plans informing us that they’re …More

Rob Lattin is Jspace News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent. In addition to covering foreign affairs for Jspace, Rob is a blogger on Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for the Foreign Policy Association, as well as a freelance writer. He can be reached by email at rob@jspacecorp.com. On Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman re-emphasized his belief that the Palestinian Authority should hold general elections, and continued his criticism of Mahmoud Abbas by telling Israel Radio, “Abu Mazen …More

Brent Sasley teaches Israeli and Middle East politics at the University of Texas at Arlington, and blogs at Mideast Matrix. He can be reached on Twitter on twitter.com/besasley. It’s often said these days that the left in Israel not only is decimated, but it continues to cling to long outdated idealism about how to solve the conflict with the Palestinians and withdraw from the West Bank. Also that it’s out of touch with Israelis’ current preoccupations and the settlers’ successes. Avraham …More

Rob Lattin is Jspace News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent. In addition to covering foreign affairs for Jspace, Rob is a blogger on Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for the Foreign Policy Association, as well as a freelance writer. He can be reached by email at rob@jspacecorp.com. It is official, Israel’s super coalition experiment was a failure. After just 70 days, Shaul Mofaz and the Kadima party voted to remove itself from the coalition over the inability of the government to come up with a …More