On Friday in East Jerusalem, there were dueling demonstrations as leftists protested construction in a Palestinian area and ultra-Orthodox Jews stoned cars.

Ynetnews. com has reported that about 300 people gathered for the weekly demonstration in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. This week's rally had a broader target, Dov Khenin, a member of the Knesset, or parliament, said.

Jerusalem, Jan 11 - Israel will close off its southern border with Egypt by building a fence to prevent the entry of "infiltrators and terrorists", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

"I decided to close Israel's southern border to infiltrators and terrorists. This is a strategic decision to ensure the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel," Netanyahu said.

Israeli police estimate that some 100-200 labour immigrants, refugees and criminals cross illegally into Israel through the border with Egypt each week.

Jerusalem, Dec 29 : Setting a new record for Israeli Jews, an Israeli man has divorced for the 11th time, the Jerusalem Post daily reported Tuesday.

The 50-year-old from the Jerusalem area said his custom is to divorce his wives every two years and look for a new bride immediately thereafter.

"I throw out a hook and the fish come on their own," he is reported to have said.

The man has been re-setting his own record for the past several years. The previous Jewish Israeli record for divorces by a single person was six.

Atarot/East (Jerusalem), Dec 23 - The beds have been freshly made. In the lobby, the waiters have set the coffee tables nicely. In the kitchen, the cooks are preparing meat balls in a tomato sauce. At the reception desk, Fakhre Alame stands ready to welcome guests - even though the young man in the snow-white shirt knows that nobody is coming. Not today, not tomorrow, just as has been the case for the past 42 years.

Jerusalem, Dec 21 - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his inner cabinet for a discussion on a prisoner swap with Hamas - which would see Israel release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in return for Gilad Shalit, the soldier held in the Gaza strip for over three years.

Although Sahlit's father, Noam, said the negotiations over his son's release had reached the point of no return, Israeli officials were quoted on Channel 2 News as saying that the deal was still not completed.

Jerusalem, Dec 10 : Thousands of right-wing Israelis protested in Jerusalem against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to partially suspend construction in West Bank settlements.

Dozens of buses transported settlers from all over the occupied territory as well as supporters from elsewhere in Israel to the rally in a wet and rainy central Jerusalem.

The protesters held up signs Wednesday reading "God's Bible gave us this land" and "We will keep building in Judea and Samaria," and wore T-shirts declaring, "Freeze the freeze".

Jerusalem, Dec 3 - The Israeli government has authorised the construction of another 84 new homes in West Bank settlements, despite the moratorium it announced last week, Israel Radio reported.

Last week, Israel okayed the construction of 28 public buildings including schools and kindergartens, as the moratorium on Israeli construction in the occupied territory applies to residential buildings only.

Jerusalem, Dec 3 :The Israeli government has authorised the construction of another 84 new homes in West Bank settlements, despite the moratorium it announced last week, Israel Radio reported.

Last week, Israel okayed the construction of 28 public buildings including schools and kindergartens, as the moratorium on Israeli construction in the occupied territory applies to residential buildings only.

Jerusalem  - Israeli fighter jets late Saturday attacked targets in the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing military sources.

The planes bombed two weapons workshops in northern and central Gaza as well as a smugglers' tunnel in the south, the report said.

Five Palestinians were injured, according to Palestinian sources.

An Israeli military spokesman said the attacks were in reaction to a rocket attack by militant Palestinians on Saturday morning. The Kassam rocket landed on Israeli territory near the city of Sderot. (dpa)

Jerusalem, Nov. 20 : Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has expressed her opposition to the Obama administration''''s freeze settlement demands by saying that all the Jews moving to Israel need a place to live.

In an interview with ABC''''s Good Morning America, Palin said: “I disagree with the Obama administration on that. I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow.

Jerusalem, Nov. 20 : Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will seek a final-peace accord with the Palestine Authority if talks resume, and not an interim solution.

In recent days, there have been various reports of cabinet ministers, and even President Shimon Peres, pressing for an interim accord that would include a Palestinian state with temporary borders.

Jerusalem, Nov. 20 : In the wake of Iran refusing to export 70 percent of its low-enriched uranium for further processing, Israel has urged the international community to impose sanctions aimed at denying Teheran any nuclear fuel cycle capabilities.

Iran’s refusal has already prompted US President Barack Obama to declare that the US was now moving to negotiate new sanctions with its allies.

Jerusalem, Nov. 19 : Israeli aircraft struck a weapons-manufacturing facility and two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, in response to recent rocket attacks on Israel, CBS quoted Israeli military sources, as saying.

Palestinian security officials, however, reported no injuries.

Israel went to war against militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza last winter to quash eight years of rocket and mortar fire that terrorized southern Israel and killed 18 civilians.

Jerusalem, Nov. 17 : The European Union has rejected the Palestinian Authority’s appeal to support its endorsement as an independent state by the United Nations.

Sweden''s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the EU presidency, said: “The conditions are not there as of yet" for such a move.

Bildt added that the Palestinian plan was "clearly an act borne by a difficult situation where they don''t see any road ahead."

Jerusalem, Nov. 16 : Israel has said it will take unilateral steps if the Palestinian Authority (PA) leaves the peace talks midway and moves to the UN to endorse it as an independent state.

Jerusalem  - Israel would answer to any Palestinian step toward an unilateral declaration of independence with "one-sided Israeli measures," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by Israeli media as saying in a forum Sunday in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, Nov. 13 : Israel has signalled fresh hope for talks with the Palestine Authority following Palestinian officials postponing the elections in their territories indefinitely. The polls were originally scheduled to be held on January 24.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had recently announced that he would not run in the elections, but many world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu, have urged Abbas not to quit.

Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy phoned Abbas on Thursday to discuss conditions for the renewal of diplomatic talks.

Jerusalem  - Israeli prosecutors Thursday indicted a militant Jewish settler who has confessed to a host of attacks against Palestinians, the gay community in Israel and left-wing Israelis opposed to Jewish settlement of the occupied West Bank.

The indictment against Yaakov Teitel, 37, born in Florida but a resident of the northern West Bank settlement of Shevut Rahel since 1997, charged him with two murders, three attempted murders and other acts of violence.

Jerusalem  - Israel Friday rejected an Arab-backed UN General Assembly resolution, giving it three months to launch an independent, credible investigation into last winter's Gaza war.

The resolution, adopted by the international body with a 114-18 vote on Thursday, endorsed a UN Human Rights Council report on the Gaza offensive, and ordered Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send the report on to the Security Council for debate and a vote.

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Monday in Jerusalem with US special envoy George Mitchell, in a further bid to find a solution to an impasse which has prevented suspended peace talks with the Palestinians from restarting.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will not return to the negotiating table until Israel halts all construction in its West Bank, settlements.