Salam Fayyad former Palestinian prime minister resigned in a move intended to pave the way for a power-sharing deal between the two rival Palestinian political forces

Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel’s centrist Kadima party, has rejected an offer to join a ruling coalition, making the formation of a right-wing government likely.
Livni turned down Benyamin Netanyahu’s offer to form a government with his Likud party on Friday, saying that she preferred to be in a “responsible opposition”.
Livni said that one of the fundamental sticking points to her joining Likud was her desire to negotiate for a Palestinian state to exist alongside Israel.

“Bibi (Netanyahu) understands the weightiness of pursuing the peace process,” outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday night of his designated replacement.
Speaking to representatives of the Jewish Agency at his Jerusalem office, Olmert said “My position that Israel needs a broad government is well-known, and the next government should be established expeditiously.
“Bibi is a patriot. In the past, during his tenure as PM, he also understood the importance of pursuing peace,” he said.

Binyamin Netanyahu described Iran as the greatest threat that Israel has ever faced and failed to mention stalled talks with the Palestinians after he was asked to be the country’s new Prime Minister today.
In a speech made outside the residence of President Shimon Peres, the Likud leader said that protecting Israel would be his greatest responsibility as leader, and condemned “formidable” challenges posed by the Islamic Republic.
However, he did not once mention the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process or a two-state solution throughout his address, omissions that will cause concern within …

Binyamin Netanyahu, the hawkish Likud leader, is to be Israel’s next Prime Minister after President Shimon Peres ask him to form a coalition government today.
Mr Netanyahu finished a close second behind Tzipi Livni, candidate for the centrist Kadima party, in the country’s general election, winning 27 seats to Ms Livni’s 28.
However the Likud leader yesterday won the crucial endorsement of Avigdor Lieberman, whose ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party finished third overall.

Israel faced what could be weeks or even months of political uncertainty today after an election that ended with both the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her rival Benjamin Netanyahu claiming victory.
With more than 95 per cent of the results announced, Mrs Livni’s centrist Kadima party has registered a narrow win, with 28 seats to 27 for Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party in the 120-member parliament. But right-wing and religious parties have won the larger share of the overall vote, and in a divided parliament that depends on coalition government …

Polls have closed in Israel’s general election, with a higher than expected turnout despite poor weather and fears of voter apathy.
Results are expected to be close in the snap poll called by PM Ehud Olmert, who stood aside corruption allegations.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud was front-runner, ahead of Tzipi Livni of the governing Kadima party.

More Israelis have cast their ballot in the first few hours of voting than during the 2006 general election, electoral commission officials say.
By 8pm local time [18:00 GMT] on Tuesday, 59.7 per cent of 5.3 million eligible voters had voted, compared to 57.2 per cent per cent in the last parliamentary election.

The hottest slogan in the Israeli election campaign is a not-so-veiled attack on the country’s Arab minority: “Without loyalty, there is no citizenship.”
The motto is plastered nationwide across buses and billboards. Above it looms the dour, bearded face of its mastermind, Avigdor Lieberman, who is enjoying a surge in opinion polls that indicate he could emerge as the political kingmaker after Tuesday’s election.
Recent polls have Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party edging past the Labor Party to become the third-largest faction in parliament. The two leading rivals for prime minister — Benjamin …

The Hamas regime’s military assets could be deployed to force the cancellation of Israel’s parliamentary elections on Feb. 10.
Israeli government sources said Hamas could fire salvos of missiles and rockets that would prevent hundreds of thousands of people in central and southern Israel from voting in Knesset elections. They said Hamas has threatened to wield this option in an effort to win such concessions as open borders with Egypt and Israel as well as international aid.
“Continued Israeli restraint may destroy the gains of the war — which leads senior officers …