Netanya, Israel News

A child molester who fled after an appeals court tossed out his light sentence is back in an Oregon jail.Arthur Silverman, 70, was extradited from Israel on Thursday and taken to the Jackson County jail in Medford.Silverman was arrested in December 1996 for molesting two boys.

"A true friend" is what Zvi Arad, president of the Netanya Academic College, called Yitzhak Tshuva after the energy baron donated NIS 8 million to fund scholarships for 300 students.

A problematic postscript Sir, - In his postscript to an earlier article, Larry Derfner argues that America's war in Afghanistan is one of self-defense, while Operation Cast Lead was not .

A reply to postscript problematics... Sir, - Efraim A. Cohen of Netanya writes that I am "mistaken" to say Operation Cast Lead was not a war of self-defense. He begins by saying Israel's blockade of Gaza began only after Hamas took over in 2007 - not, as I wrote, immediately upon disengagement in 2005 - and insists it was justified to stop Hamas ...

The Swedish two-state solution... Sir, - The Swedish Government is pushing for EU policy to support the division of Jerusalem between Palestinian and Jewish states and for a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, even though that might trigger unilateral Israeli countermoves and the whole situation could deteriorate .

A hesder talk is in order Sir, - I would like to suggest a way to settle the dispute between the hesder yeshivas and the army now that the latter has openly taken a stand to close the Har Bracha Yeshiva .

A 19-year-old man was stabbed in the back and lightly wounded during a brawl outside of a pub in Haifa's downtown district on Friday night.

World peace is no closer now than it was when the first Ben & Jerry's store in Israel opened with great fanfare on Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Street in 1988, but the flavor Imagine Whirled Peace is coming back to an ice-cream store near you.

Like after every leak about the fate of Gilad Shalit, they're back in the public square, like deflated beach balls that got a shot of some air, singing their same old songs.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held marathonic meetings with Likud activists Wednesday, in an attempt to curb any internal opposition against his new settlements policies .

Dangerous decision Sir, - This is madness! Releasing 980 Palestinian terrorists for one Israeli soldier ? If Israel does this, it will be putting every Israeli - and in fact, every Jew - in the world in danger.

A left-wing activist from Ramat Gan never dreamed that a comment he made on a radio chat show a year and a half ago would cost him NIS 40,000 in compensation fees, for insulting a right-wing activist.

Hamas' decision to put its response to the Shalit deal on hold has temporarily suspended negotiations and dashed Israeli hopes for an agreement by the end of this week.

A British man died in a helicopter crash in Israel on Tuesday, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

THE chairman of the Bournemouth Netanya Twinning Committee has expressed his shock following a helicopter crash that killed four people, including a British tourist near the Israeli town.

Four people were killed Tuesday when their civilian helicopter crashed into the waters off the coast of Netanya, rescue workers said.

The civilian helicopter crashed about 300 yards from the seaside city of Netanya on Tuesday afternoon, killing all four people aboard, including the pilot.

Arab press reports, echoed in Israel, claim that Gilad Schalit's long ordeal in Hamas captivity may be nearing its end, perhaps even this weekend to coincide with Id al-Adha, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the Haj.

Intermarriage between between Jews from different ethnic backgrounds has increased steadily over the past several decades, and people say that this is solving the socioeconomic gaps that existed between Ashkenazim and Sephardim in Israeli society.

The more Israeli society deteriorates and its skullcap-wearers divide and subdivide into groups and communities with differing lifestyles and differing relations with society and the state, the shallower the perspective from which secular people view them.