More in ‘West Bank’

• Despite everything, Israel expects the proximity talks will in fact launch, and soon. [JPost]
• The IDF indicted two soldiers in military court for allegedly getting a Palestinian boy to open a suspected booby-trapped package during last year’s Gaza conflict. [LAT]
• To head off buzzed-about rioting, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered a 48-hour full closure ...

• After meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Vice President Joe Biden declared, “There is no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel’s security.” [WP]
• A Reform Judaism task force proposed the establishment of separate blessings for major life events, including marriages, involving non-Jewish spouses. [AP/Vos Iz Neias?]
• With U.S. ...

• Prime Minister Netanyahu said that, for strategic reasons, Israel would never—even under a peace deal—cede the western border of the Jordan River. Which is of course mostly in the West Bank (that’s why it’s called the West Bank!), and doesn’t border the Green Line. [Haaretz]
• More than in any past year, pro-Israel campus groups ...

• Skirmishes followed Prime Minister Netanyahu’s announcement that he will designate Abraham’s and Rachel’s burial places, which are in Israel-controlled West Bank, as national heritage sites. [NYT]
• U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress that no military strike could completely halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program. [Haaretz]
• Foreign Minister ...

• Numerous ultra-Orthodox rabbis have asked Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to stay the execution of convicted murderer (and religious Jew) Martin Grossman on the grounds that he is mentally challenged and has been a model, remorseful prisoner. As of this publication, however, Grossman is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection in roughly ...

• Per court order, the IDF is rerouting a portion of the West Bank security barrier, placing 170 additional acres in the Territories. The nearby Palestinian village, Bilin, has been a lodestar of anti-barrier protest. [LAT]
• Mideast envoy Tony Blair will take a more active role alongside envoy George Mitchell in helping facilitate peace talks. ...

• A Palestinian Authority police officer killed an Israeli soldier, in an area of the West Bank controlled by Israel. Twist #1: the Israeli was a Druse. Twist #2: the victim’s name was Ihab Khatib, the killer’s name was Mahmoud al-Khatib; they are unrelated. [NYT]
• Today Iran observes the anniversary of the founding of the ...

• The Israeli military formally reprimanded two officers for their roles in the shelling of the Gaza U.N. compound during last year’s conflict. [NYT]
• Israel also said it would not file any charges related to a 38-year-old American who sustained brain damage while participating in a West Bank protest. [WP]
• The Hamas weapons connection-guy killed ...

When a West Bank mosque was burned and vandalized last month, likely by Jewish settlers, we worried that it could precipitate a conflagration that would dwarf the initial, terrible act. But cooler heads fortunately prevailed, complete with a cavalcade of Israeli political and religious leaders condemning the arson. And today Shin Bet arrested Yitzhak Shapira, ...

• The last time global anti-Semitism attained its current level, World War II was still going on, a new report found. Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky and an Israeli minister presented the document. [JPost]
• In an audiotape endorsing the attempted Christmas Day bombing, Osama bin Laden linked it and future attacks on the United States ...