Ofer Shelah
By Ofer Shelah
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News Sharon Fights To Save Plan, Political Life
TEL AVIV — Following his drubbing in a Likud party referendum of his own devising — widely seen as the worst political blunder ever by an Israeli leader — Prime Minister Sharon was struggling this week to find a way of staving off the demise of his disengagement initiative and, some said, of his career….
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News Israeli Visions of ‘New Dawn’ Clouded by Storm Over Gaza
TEL AVIV — Buoyed by a drop in terrorist attacks, rising economic indicators and a general feeling that a break may be coming in the deadlocked conflict with the Palestinians, Israelis celebrated their nation’s 56th birthday last Tuesday with a display of joie de vivre of the sort not seen in three years, since the…
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News ‘Suicide-Bombing Capital’ Thrives As New Barrier Nears Completion
JENIN, Northern Samaria — Life is returning to normal here in the city once known as the suicide-bombing capital of the West Bank. The economy is picking up, services are being restored and local leaders describe a new optimism. The reason, Israeli military officials say, is the nearly completed security fence separating this sector of…
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News Left, Right Watching Sharon With Suspicion As Bribery Indictment Looms
TEL AVIV — Besieged on all fronts, Israel’s Prime Minister Sharon pulled yet another political rabbit out of his hat this week, winning approval from the Likud party convention for his surprise proposal to submit his disengagement plan to a referendum among the Likud’s estimated 200,000 members. But the convention victory was a limited one….
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News Israelis Back Strike, Brace for Bombers
TEL AVIV — Israel braced itself for a plunge into the unknown this week, following the army’s March 22 assassination of the leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The killing of the charismatic Islamic leader was the most controversial Israeli military action in the three and a half years of violence. Most observers agreed that…
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News After Attack, Tanks Roll Back Into Gaza
TEL AVIV — As Israeli tanks and armored vehicles rumbled into Gaza this week, responding to Sunday’s double suicide bombing in the port city of Ashdod, officials cautioned that the incursions would not be a repeat of the massive 2002 operation known as Defensive Shield. Israel does not intend to reoccupy the streets of Gaza,…
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News Defending Withdrawal Plan, Sharon Aims at Top General
TEL AVIV — While Israel and the world community try to guess just what Prime Minister Sharon means when he speaks of his “disengagement plan,” Sharon himself has begun lashing out at the plan’s critics, choosing as his first target an unlikely — and quite unsuspecting — opponent: Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen….
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News Crisis Erupting Over Soldier Won Back in Hezbollah Trade
TEL AVIV — The simmering debate over Israel’s January 29 hostage exchange deal with Hezbollah erupted into a full-scale political crisis this week, following news reports that Prime Minister Sharon had a personal relationship with the father-in-law of the sole Israeli brought home alive in the deal, reserve colonel and suspected drug dealer Elhanan Tennenbaum….
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