Physicist held in France over ‘terror links’

A man arrested in France on suspicion of links to terrorist organizations is a physicist who was working with the agency known for being home of the Large Hadron Collider — the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. Talks between American diplomat George Mitchell and Netanyahu focused on efforts to restart the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and the two men agreed to continue their discussions in the coming days, the minister’s office said

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Paper’s organ harvesting article causes Israel-Sweden rift

Israeli troops are accused in a newspaper article of harvesting organs from dead Palestinians, and Israel wants Sweden’s government to condemn the Swedish paper that published it. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman compared the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s hands-off position to the country’s neutrality during World War II. “It’s a shame that the Swedish Foreign Ministry fails to intervene in a case of blood libels against Jews,” Lieberman told Sweden’s ambassador to Israel on Thursday evening

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Israeli FM questioned in bribery probe

A day after he assumed his new job, controversial Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday endured more than seven hours of questioning by police in a long-standing probe over business dealings. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said National Fraud Investigation Unit officers queried Lieberman “under warning” on suspicion of bribery, money laundering, fraud, and breach of trust

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Nationalist could be Israel’s next foreign minister

Israeli media are buzzing with reports that right-wing nationalist Avigdor Lieberman may become Israel’s next foreign minister. The appointment of Lieberman, a polarizing figure in Israeli politics, could complicate the stalled peace talks with the Palestinians. It could also further strain relations between Israel and moderate Arab countries

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Right-Winger Emerges as Israel’s Kingmaker

Writing a wish on a piece of paper and sticking it into the cracks of Jerusalem’s ancient Western Wall is a time-honored practice among Jews seeking God’s help, so it’s hardly surprising that visiting the sacred site with a message for the Almighty has become an election-eve ritual for Israeli politicians. At twilight on Monday, Israel’s most controversial politician, Avigdor Lieberman, arrived with a phalanx of bodyguards and photographers and threaded his way between the black-hatted ultra-Orthodox men praying at the Wall to twist his message into a crack between the stones. It was a shrewd campaign move in light of recent warnings by several prominent rabbis that casting a vote for Lieberman would be “strengthening Satan.” A burly Soviet immigrant to Israel in the 1970s — his Hebrew still retains a Russian inflection — Lieberman provoked the rabbis’ ire not only because he is a secular Jew, but also because his tough, anti-Arab slogans are luring many hawkish Israelis away from religious parties.

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