Year in Review: The Dramatic Events of 5769
The Jewish year of 5769 is coming to an end, and Israel National News presents a look back at year of history, hope, heartache and headlines.

by Hillel Fendel, Arutz Sheva
September 17, 2009

Sep 17, '08 – Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Wins Kadima Party Primaries
Succeeding Ehud Olmert as party leader, Livni is now first in line to become prime minister.

Sep 18, '08 - Shekel Doing Well Despite U.S. Economic Woes
The shekel continues to rise sharply against leading currencies, despite major losses on Wall Street, the US government bailout of insurance giant AIG, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, and the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America.

Sep 21, '08 – Livni Tapped by Peres to Form Government
Olmert submits his resignation from office (though it takes effect only several months later), and Livni begins a month of efforts to amalgamate the Labor, Shas and Kadima parties into a government. She reaches a basic agreement with Labor, giving party leader Ehud Barak the authority to veto proposed changes in the judicial system.

She is unsuccessful with Shas, however, which demands increased child welfare payments for large families, as well as an end to negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) regarding the division of Jerusalem.

Radical-left Meretz party leader Yossi Beilin says at the time, "Livni should take advantage of the refusal of Shas to join her, and should make a bold decision to present a narrow government to the Knesset as early as next week. This could be a rare opportunity to lead to firm moves" - a reference to Livni’s principled consent to divide Jerusalem and withdraw from over 95% of Judea and Samaria, home to over 300,000 Jews, in the framework of a final agreement with the PA.

Oct. 15, ’08 – Shemittah Year is Over, Hak’hel Ceremony Held
The Jerusalem-based Temple Institute re-enacts the dramatic “Biblical gathering” ceremony in the Old City, complete with Torah readings, silver Temple trumpets, Temple clothing, a short film describing the Sukkot-holiday Simchat Beit HaShoevah water pouring festival, and the unveiling of the just-completed brass laver, which, it is hoped, will be used in the future Holy Temple. Another Hak’hel-related ceremony is held the next day, involving the introduction of a new Torah Scroll to the Western Wall praying area, and sponsored by the Chief Rabbinate.

Oct. 25, '08 – Livni Fails, New Elections Scheduled
After not taking Beilin’s advice, Livni informs Peres that she has failed in her bid to form a new government. After a period of negotiations among the parties, new elections are scheduled for February 10, 2009.

Nov. 12, '08 – New Mayor of Jerusalem
Nir Barkat defeats hareidi-religious candidate MK Meir Porush in the wake of a split within the hareidi camp, and becomes mayor of Jerusalem. Barkat, a Kadima member who is supported by several religious-Zionist rabbis, wins 52% of the vote, while Porush receives 43% and Jewish-Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak garners only 3.6%.

Nov. 26-29, ’08 – Chabad House and Other Sites Attacked in Mumbai
In more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai, India, Pakistani Muslim terrorists murdered at least 173 people. Among the victims were Chabad emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, as well as six other hostages held there. Mumbai doctors who examined the victims’ bodies said they were tortured before being slaughtered – and that "the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks.”

Dec. 4, ’08 – Jews Evicted from Legally-Acquired Jewish Building in Hevron
After nearly two years of pioneering efforts to hold on to their property, the Jews living in Peace House in Hevron were evicted, in accordance with orders given by Defense Minister Ehud Barak – just hours after Barak met with leaders of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) to discuss a peaceful end to the controversy. The Jews had provided video and other proof of their legal purchase of the building from Arabs.

Dec. 11, ‘08 – Madoff Arrested
Bernard L. Madoff is arrested by the FBI for defrauding investors of tens of billions of dollars in a massive Ponzi scheme over some 20 years. Sentenced to 150 years in prison, he admits to operating the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person, destroying the fortunes of hundreds of people and seriously harming numerous Jewish charities and institutions, some of which were forced to close.

Dec. 26, ’08 – Anti-Terror War in Gaza: Operation Cast Lead begins
After years of Hamas rocket attacks into civilian areas of southern Israel, Israel Air Force aircraft attack a series of Hamas targets and infrastructure facilities in the Gaza Strip. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice declares support for Israel: "The US strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza," adding, "The ceasefire should be restored immediately.”

In the first week of fighting alone, some 400 trucks carrying more than 6,500 tons of food, medicine and medical supplies cross into Gaza from Israel. Ten ambulances are transferred to Gaza, and 12 injured Gazans were treated in Israeli hospitals.

Dec. 28, ’08 - Total Uncertainty in Nationalist Camp as Election Deadline Nears
With the deadline for submitting final candidate lists only hours away, the nationalist camp is still in disarray: The Likud is in the midst of court hearings and appeals regarding the placement of Michael Ratzon, Ehud Yatom and Moshe Feiglin [all of whom ultimately remain at the bottom of the list and are not elected to the Knesset]; the Jewish Home party is still unsure whether Uri Ariel’s resignation from its #3 position is final, and has therefore not yet compiled its final list; and the National Union is apparently re-forming itself, together with Aryeh Eldad’s HaTikvah party and parts of Moledet – but it is not clear whether the Marzel-Wolpe “Our Land of Israel” party is joining them.

Dec. 29, ’08 – Surprise Entry to Politics
Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) agrees to head the National Union-Moledet party and Knesset list. The religious-nationalist camp thus has two parties – the former National Religious Party (NRP) and the new National Union (NU)– instead of several small separate factions.

A co-founder of the town of Beit El, Ketzaleh was seriously wounded during the Yom Kippur War while fighting in the elite Shaked commando unit. At the personal insistence of his commander, Maj.-Gen. Ariel Sharon, he was flown to a hospital, where he spent the next year recovering. From 1990 to 1992, then-Housing Minister Sharon appointed Ketzaleh as a top advisor, in which position he initiated countless building startups throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Dec. 29, ’08 – Civilian War Casualties
Irit Sheetrit, 39, mother of four, becomes the third and last civilian killed during Operation Cast Lead, when a Kassam rocket explodes near her car in Ashdod. Ten soldiers are killed in the fighting.

Dec. 30, ’08 – Netanyahu Takes to the Microphones
Opposition leader and favored Prime Ministerial candidate Binyamin Netanyahu takes a break from politics to defend Israel in the international arena. On this day alone, Netanyahu gives 20 interviews to international television networks, explaining why justice is on Israel’s side in the current battle with Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of people in dozens of countries are estimated to see and hear him say that Israel had no choice but to respond to Hamas rockets.

Jan. 5, ’09 – Former Gush Katif Residents Ask: Why Did We Ever Leave?
Soldiers from former Gush Katif communities in Gaza fighting the Cast Lead war against Gaza Arab terrorists say it appears they lost their homes 3 1/2 years earlier for nothing. Yossi Neuman, a Southern Command reserves officer who once lived in N’vei Dekalim, says, "I'm here on an emergency call-up and my son is fighting for what we once had. We said that missiles would haunt Ashkelon, and they said we were delusional. We lost our homes and our lives, in exchange for nothing at all. And in the end, we're returning to fight there."

Jan. 7, ‘09 – Government Faulted for Gush Katif Post-Expulsion Suffering
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss scathingly blames the government for the fact that 95% of the Gush Katif expellee-families that were relocated together with their communities still do not have permanent homes. His report also details severe problems with the temporary houses the expellees were given, as well as difficulties in reintegrating evictees into the work force.

The Knesset's State Audit Committee responds by forming an official committee of inquiry to investigate the government’s treatment and resettlement of the 9,000 expelled residents.

Jan. 11, ‘09 – Pollard Callers Flood White House
The White House hires 30 more phone operators to handle calls for Jonathan Pollard's release, in honor of the upcoming end of President Bush’s term in office. American presidents frequently pardon some convicts just before stepping down, and supporters from all over the world flood the White House lines asking that Pollard be pardoned for providing information to Israel.

Jan. 16, ’09 - Three Weeks of War: 1,200 Gaza Targets Bombed
Among the targets for the IAF are mosques and other munitions storehouses, Philadelphi Route tunnels between southern Gaza and Egypt, terrorist cells, homes of top terrorist leaders, Kassam rocket manufacturing sites, and Hamas military installations.

It was originally estimated that Hamas might fire some 250 rockets a day at Israel during the battle, but actually fire a daily average of fewer than 30. Nearly 80 of the rockets were fired at distances of more than 40 kilometers (25 miles), landing in large cities such as Be’er Sheva, Ashkelon, and Ashdod.

Jan. 17, ’09: War Ends, Goals Not Fully Met
The government approves a unilateral truce in Gaza, though Hamas continues to attack. Only two Cabinet ministers, Roni Bar-On (Kadima) and Eli Yishai (Shas), vote against, and Rafi Eitan (Pensioners) abstains (after threatening to resign if the government approves a ceasefire without the return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, which it did).

Israel plans to complete its withdrawal from Gaza on the eve of Barack Obama’s inauguration, as a gesture to the new American president. It mostly succeeds; the last soldiers leave Gaza on January 21, the day after Obama takes office.

Likud head MK Binyamin Netanyahu declares that the war against Hamas was stopped in the middle: “The IDF has dealt Hamas some very hard blows on the head, but regrettably the job has not been finished… Hamas still controls Gaza and it will continue to smuggle new missiles in through the Philadelphi Route. I believe that in the face of Hamas's terror and its Iranian backing, we must show no weakness and we must show a resolute, iron fist, until the enemy is vanquished.”

Jan. 18, ’09 - Israel Discovers Gas!
Drilling for Israel’s Delek fuel company, the US-based Noble Energy company announces its discovery of a huge deposit of natural gas under the Mediterranean Sea near Haifa.

Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) says the find – originally assumed to be nearly 3.1 trillion cubic feet of high-quality gas, but later upped to 5.5 trillion - is of “historic proportions” and could change the face of Israel’s economy. The new Tamar Drilling site is named for Delek owner Yitzchak Teshuva’s granddaughter.

Jan. 21, '09 – Pollard Remains in Prison
Despite high hopes, years of effort, hours of prayer at and tens of thousands of phone calls to the White House, U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office without pardoning Jonathan Pollard. Esther Pollard prays at the Western Wall (Kotel) for several hours on this day for a last-minute release of her husband from prison.

Despite the tremendous disappointment, efforts to secure his release from prison resume almost immediately.

Jan. 23, '09 – Electioneering Resumes
With the war in Gaza over, campaigning for the elections resumes with a fury. Polls show the Likud in the lead with 4-10 projected Knesset seats more than Kadima; this lead gradually shrinks.

Feb. 10. ’09 – Election Day
Kadima wins the election with 28 seats, topping the Likud’s 27. However, the nationalist/religious camp wins a decisive victory, garnering 65 Knesset mandates, compared to only 55 for post-Zionist and pro-Arab sector Kadima-Labor-Meretz and the Arab parties. Twenty-one women are elected – the most ever – as are 28 religious Jews and 13 Arabs.

Feb 20, ‘09 – Peres Asks Netanyahu to Form Government
Peres Asks Netanyahu to Form Government based on the recommendations of 65 of the 120 Knesset Members. This is the first time in Israeli parliamentary history that the head of the largest party is not granted this privilege. President Shimon Peres also takes the unprecedented step of advising the Prime Minister-designate what type of government he should form: “I have decided to bestow the task of forming the next government on MK Binyamin Netanyahu, while noting that a majority of the delegations expressed their wish that the government formed will be a broad government, and requesting that this desire be taken into account in the forming of the government.”

Feb. ’09 – Netanyahu Receives Encouragement: Don’t Be Afraid to Rule!
The religious-Zionist press is replete with calls along the lines of “Let’s not be afraid to rule.” Emanuel Shilo, editor of the weekly B’Sheva, writes: “Kadima overtook the Likud by one Knesset mandate, but this should not confuse us: The clear meaning of the election results is a victory by the Jewish-nationalist camp over the liberal-left camp… The religious-nationalist camp now has a clear chance to form a stable coalition… Netanyahu wants a partnership with the left [in order] that the various power centers in our society and state will somehow agree to accept his regime. But Labor has been defeated and wants to stay in the opposition, and Kadima wants nothing less than full partnership and rotation in the Prime Minister’s chair. Therefore, what Netanyahu did not want to do out of courageous choice, he will apparently be forced to do out of necessity."

Dudu Alharar – musician, actor, producer and TV/radio personality – writes: “The nationalist-Zionist camp has a clear majority to form a government and firmly lead the country towards a Jewish-Zionist-democratic state, in that order… The Likud did not win these elections; it simply heads the camp that won. Without this camp, the Likud has no right to tread in the corridors of governmental power.”

Feb. 20, ‘09 - Yemenite Family Arrives in Israel After Secret Rescue
Jewish Agency spokesman Michael Jankelowitz refuses to say how the ten Ben-Yisrael family members were rescued, citing security concerns, but says they had been threatened by Al-Qaeda.

Mar. 13, ‘09 - PA TV Celebrates Massive Terror Attack
The PA’s ongoing incitement against Jews and Israel features an upbeat, hour-long special commemorating the most murderous terror attack in Israeli history: the 1978 Coastal Road Terror Attack, in which Palestinian terrorists hijacked a tourist bus and went on a shooting spree down the highway, murdering 13 children and 25 adults. The show calls the attack "important," "special,” and "heroic."

Several weeks later, a Fatah official in a PA TV panel says, "Our goal has never been peace. Peace is a means; the goal is Palestine."

March 13 – More Talk of Shalit Deal; Media is Criticized
Israel Broadcasting Authority’s Yaron Dekel writes: “The media's overwhelming endorsement of a trade of Palestinian terrorists for Gilad Shalit does not serve our national interest.”

Reports of an “imminent” deal, involving the release of at least 1,000 terrorists in exchange for Shalit, sprouted from time to time throughout the year. The last sign of life from Shalit was received in the form of a letter he wrote, received in Israel in June 2008.

Mar. 18, ‘09 - PA's Fatah Violates Roadmap Demand to Recognize Israel
Senior Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan confirms that Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority, does not recognize Israel. Speaking on PA television, Dahlan says, "I want to say for the thousandth time… We [Fatah] do not demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel. On the contrary, we demand of the Hamas movement not to recognize Israel, because the Fatah movement does not recognize Israel even today.”

Dahlan explains that the PA recognizes Israel only in order to receive billions of dollars of aid from the international community.

Mar. 22, ‘09 – Netanyahu Likud in Uproar over Netanyahu's Generosity to Labor
A month after having been given the task of forming a new government, PM-designate Netanyahu has still not succeeded in securing Labor's agreement to join a national unity government. Netanyahu asks President Peres for a two-week extension to allow him to build his desired coalition with the nationalist parties – except for the National Union – and Labor. Some Likud MKs express their discomfort with Netanyahu's endeavoring to avoid forming a homogeneous coalition of 65 nationalist MKs, questioning the heavy price he is willing to pay Labor – such as giving the small 13-MK party five ministerial portfolios.

Mar. 23, ‘09 – Ongoing Campaign to Keep Former Army Base Jewish
Pioneers continue their campaign to make former IDF army base Shdema, south of Jerusalem, a Jewish town, and prevent it from falling into Arab hands. The struggle is being waged on many fronts: Weekly group visits to the site, tree planting, construction planning, lobbying of Knesset Members, speaking tours abroad, Youtube videos, and more.

Mar. 23, ‘09 – UN Report: Israel #1 World Leader in Water Recycling
Israel is named the world's most efficient recycled-water user in a UN report issued in honor of International Water Day. The report also ranks Israel as one of the world's leaders in desalinated water use. Israeli water technology exports have doubled since 2005, with 200 Israeli companies exporting $1.4 billion worth of water management, recycling and purification, irrigation, desalination, and safety technologies to over 100 countries in 2008.

Mar. 26, ‘09 – Maoz Esther Outpost Destroyed Again
The small outpost Maoz Esther, near Kokhav HaShachar north of Jerusalem, is razed – one of four times during a three-month period; it was rebuilt each time. One of its residents is Emunah Avi-Yonah, daughter of Esther Gealyah, a terrorist victim for whom the neighborhood is named.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has committed to destroying some 25 Jewish community outposts in Judea and Samaria. However, to the chagrin of Peace Now, he took no serious steps against the Jewish settlement enterprise during the year 5769, other than refusing to sign legalization papers and then declaring that the outposts are illegal, and razing and re-razing isolated outposts throughout Judea and Samaria.

Mar. 31, ‘09 – Netanyahu Presents Largest-Ever Gov't
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu receives Knesset approval for Israel’s largest government– 30 ministers and 8 deputy ministers. Netanyahu explains that the cost to the Israeli taxpayer of not having a stable government would be many times higher than the costs of added ministers and ministries.

The coalition was formed in a piecemeal manner. First to sign with the Likud was Israel Our Home, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, followed by Shas and the Jewish Home. The Labor Party was a surprise addition shortly before the deadline, followed by the hareidi-religious UTJ party. Ongoing negotiations with the National Union went nowhere.

April 2, ‘09 – Jewish Boy Murdered by Axe-Wielding Terrorist in Gush Etzion
A Palestinian terrorist infiltrated the Judean community of Bat Ayin over the Passover holiday, and attacked two boys playing outside their homes. Though a resident struggled with him, he escaped, and was caught only months later.

April 8, ‘09 – Rare Blessing Over the Sun
Passover Eve, Jews gather around the world to recite the Blessing Over the Sun, just before burning their chametz (leaven) for the week-long holiday. The short blessing is said once every 28 years.

April 17, ‘09 – Netanyahu and PA Clash
PM Netanyahu demands PA recognition of Israel as a Jewish State. PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh turns him down, calling the demand a “provocation.”

“Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognize Israel as a Jewish State before talking about two states for two peoples,” Netanyahu is reported to have said. His office later denied that he made this a condition for negotiations – but he did make it a prerequisite for a Palestinian state in his famous Bar Ilan speech, delivered in response to Obama’s June 4 speech in Cairo.

Ten days later, PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas openly refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Speaking at a rally in Ramallah, Abbas says, "A Jewish state? What is that supposed to mean? You [Israelis] can call yourselves what you want, but I don't accept it and I say so publicly."

April 20, ‘09 – All Pupils Must Visit Western Wall
Education Minister Gideon Saar institutes a new program by which all elementary school students in the country will visit Jerusalem at least once. The five obligatory sites to see in the capital are the Western Wall in the Old City, Ammunition Hill in an area liberated during the 1967 Six Day War, Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, the Knesset and the Supreme Court.

May 1, ‘09 – Israel-Vatican Meeting: No Mt. Zion Deal
Representatives of the State of Israel and the Vatican who have been negotiating fiscal and property matters for over 15 years hold their semi-annual high-level meeting, and once again reported “significant progress.” Nothing is signed regarding the building housing King David's Tomb on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and another meeting was scheduled for Dec. 10 at the Vatican.

May 6, ‘09 – Obama Wants UN Flag Over Western Wall
US President Obama tells Jordan's King Abdullah he wants to see the UN flag flying over holy sites in eastern Jerusalem, according to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper. Obama alludes to his support of international control of Jerusalem in his famous Cairo speech when he mentions Jerusalem only to say that the holy city should be "a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together..."

May 11, ‘09 – Pope Benedict XVI Arrives in Israel
On hand to greet the Pope are President Peres and most of the government; the Chief Rabbis greet him later at a separate reception. He spends his first full day visiting the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Chief Rabbinate offices, and other sites. Neither at the Wall nor at Yad Vashem does he fulfill Jewish expectations to apologize for the Church’s role in the Holocaust.

May 16, ‘09 – Netanyahu Visits US, Obama Comes Down Hard on PA State and Settlements
In the first Washington meeting between the two leaders, Obama makes it clear he wants Israel to stop settlement activity stopped. Tensions between the US and Israeli governments increase as other top officials also call publicly to impede Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria.

May 27, ‘09 – Knesset Marks Yiddish Language and Culture Day
Marking the occasion, the Knesset releases a Yiddish-Hebrew lexicon of phrases often spoken in the Knesset (such as “Ich hob eich nisht geshtert, toshter nisht mir!, meaning, "I didn't interrupt you, don't interrupt me!"). The date marks 150 years since the birth of famous Yiddish author Shalom Aleichem. Eleven MKs list Yiddish on their official Knesset webpages as one of their spoken languages.

June 4, ‘09 – Obama’s Speech in Cairo
US President Barack Obama delivers a much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world at Cairo University, calling for a “new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.” He speaks of his own Muslim background, and states, “Islam has always been a part of America's story." Calling for a PA state, Obama equates the Holocaust with Israel’s "occupation” of the Jewish homeland in Judea and Samaria, which he called “intolerable [for the] Palestinian people.”

After saying, “Palestinians must abandon violence,” he sharply declares, “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. It is time for these settlements to stop.”

June 5, ‘09 – Clinton Repudiates Bush Promises to Israel
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waves off former President Bush’s commitment to Ariel Sharon allowing for natural growth and Israel’s retention of settlement blocs.

At a Washington press conference with Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Clinton said, “We have the negotiating record” regarding understandings between former Israeli and U.S. governments, and “there is no memorialization of any informal and oral agreements. If they did occur… .they did not become part of the official position of the United States Government. And there are contrary documents that suggest that they were not to be viewed as in any way contradicting the obligations that Israel undertook pursuant to the Roadmap. And those obligations are very clear.”

Secretary Clinton’s blunt dismissal of the “informal” promise places more than 100,000 residents of Gush Etzion, Maaleh Adumim, Ariel, and Betar Illit on the chopping block of future expulsions to make way for a PA state.

June 14, ‘09 – Iran Elects Ahmadinejad; Israel Calls for Action
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon say that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s election victory in Iran underscores the need for the international community to act now against Iran. US President Obama has given Iran until the end of the year to stop its nuclear enrichment program, though he did not specify what would occur if this deadline was not met.

June 14, ‘09 – Netanyahu Responds to Obama Speech, Advocates Demilitarized PA State
"The root of the conflict,” Netanyahu says at Bar Ilan University, “is the refusal to accept the Jewish people’s right to exist in its historic homeland. Whoever thinks that the enmity against Israel is the result of our occupying Judea and Samaria, is confusing cause and effect." He then enumerates instances of Arab belligerence against the Jews in the Land of Israel before 1967.

Despite this, he says, “In our vision we see two states side by side, each with its own flag and anthem." The PA entity must also not be sovereign over airspace nor sign military treaties with Israel's enemies, Netanyahu says, and Jerusalem will remain the unified Jewish capital.

Some in Israel lauded the Prime Minister for mentioning the words “Palestinian state” for the first time, others excoriate him for it, and others (in the nationalist camp) said the conditions he had set for a PA state were so unacceptable to the PA as to render the issue moot.

June 23 – State Department Against Jewish Growth in Jerusalem
A US State Department spokesman reiterated the Obama administration stance that Israel must cease all construction and development in the eastern section of Jerusalem.

Summer ’09 – Violent “Toldot Aharon” Hassidic Demonstrations in Jerusalem.
Issues include Sabbath opening of parking lot, attempted autopsy of murdered Jerusalem man, and resentment over the “hareidi mother” case.

July 2, ‘09 – Bolton Says No Choice Other Than Israeli Attack on Iran
US President Obama’s policies vis-à-vis Iran have left no option other than an Israeli attack on that country, writes ex-US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. “With no other timely option, the already compelling logic for an Israeli strike is nearly inexorable. Israel is undoubtedly ratcheting forward its decision-making process. President Obama is almost certainly not,” Bolton writes.

July 13, ‘09 – Germany Charges Demjanjuk
The Nazi concentration camp guard is charged with 27,900 counts of accessory to murder in a German court.

July 16, ‘09 – Two-Year National Budget
First time: After a marathon Knesset session, Israel’s first two-year budget, a 616-billion shekel affair, becomes law. Israel is thus fiscally set through 2010.

July 16, ‘09 – Israel Preparing for Strike on Iran
As two Israeli missile-class warships join a navy submarine in the Red Sea, an Israeli defense source says the moves are meant to send a threatening message to Iran: “Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats.”

July 19 – Fatah-Hamas Rift Continues
Fatah-Hamas negotiations are at an impasse, Fatah chief Abbas is accused of ousting PLO veterans, and January elections thus appear unlikely. There is talk of “two states – Hamastan and Fatahland - for one people…”

July 20, ‘09 – Knesset passes controversial land reform package, which includes the sale of 800 square kilometers (308 square miles) of state-owned land to private buyers. The reforms also include the dissolution of the bureaucratic Israel Lands Authority, which has long handled everything having to do with the long-term leasing, development and improvements to state-owned lands and the structures built there. Strong protests were sounded by environmental, social and religious groups.

Aug. 10, ‘09 – Remains from King Hezekiah Era Discovered
The latest in a long series of significant archaeological finds in Israel in recent months is that of a luxurious administrative center from the period of King Hezekiah, over 2,700 years ago, in Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, south of Jerusalem.

Aug. 26, ‘09 – Bnei Adam Clash Diffused
A three-way clash, involving Civil Administration, Judea/Samaria Council, and outpost residents, was avoided when residents agreed to let the Council move three caravans from the scenic Bnei Adam outpost, north of Jerusalem, to another nearby town. The army wanted to destroy them, but the Council wanted to compromise and move them. Ideological residents agreed only after rabbinic intervention.

Sep. 2, ‘09 – Technion Scientists Create Breath Test for Cancer Detection
In an initial trial, the “breathalyzer” test was able to detect lung cancer with 86% accuracy.

Sep. 7, ‘09 – Yesha Council Decries Barak’s Settlement “Crumbs”
In anticipation of a total settlement construction freeze throughout Judea and Samaria, Defense Minister Ehud Barak approves the construction of 455 housing units in settlement blocs in these areas. Most of them were approved in the past; over a third will be built in two Gush Etzion communities, more than 100 will be constructed in and around Maaleh Adumim, and only 45 units will be built in smaller communities.

Sep. 8, ‘09 – New Immigrants from North America
The final Nefesh B’Nefesh flight of the year brings 204 new immigrants from North America, taking the total for the summer to approximately 3,000.

Sep. 13, ‘09 – Fallen Astronaut’s Son Killed in Crash
Israel collectively mourns the death of IAF pilot Capt. Asaf Ramon, son of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed when his jet crashed during a routine training flight over the southern Hevron Hills area.