(…)

The countries’ nuclear envoys have been discussing the idea of “talks about talks,” according to multiple people with knowledge of the conversations. But they have not been able to agree on the logistics — in no small part because of North Korea’s continuing Ebola quarantine.

“We want to test if they have an interest in resuming negotiations,” a senior U.S. administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “I think we’ve made it very clear that we would like to see them take some steps first.”

(19.1.) “We will win a majority in the next general election,” Okada told reporters at a press conference after his election. He added that the party will now concentrate on elections to the House of Councilors — the upper house of Japan’s two chamber parliament — this coming summer.

Critics say that the killings of the two captives demonstrate that Japan‘s diplomacy lacks maturity and that there are many loopholes in Abe‘s proactive pacifism, which will deal a heavy blow to the prime minister‘s approval rating.

Those who take a pessimistic attitude claim the incident shows that Abe‘s diplomacy cannot adapt to the current trend of non-traditional security cooperation without powerful security as backup. Abe will lose credibility if he fails to properly handle this incident.

Japan may use force in collective self-defense even if its ally launches a preemptive attack on a third country and consequently comes under armed attack, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated Monday.

Furthermore, while Iran seemingly improved its public standing since the previous poll, conducted in 2012, when 45 of the respondents viewed it unfavorably.

Israel, however, suffered a massive decline in the British public‘s eye. In 2012, only 17 of respondents viewed it unfavorably – an increase of 18 points in two years, possibly influenced by last summer‘s war in Gaza, the report suggested.

Israel‘s score, a significant rise of 18 points since the survey was last published in 2012, may be a result of timing as respondents were polled in August during the height of Operation Protective Edge.

According to the accompanying analytical paper published by Chatham House, Israel‘s increase is „presumably in response to the controversial military campaign in Gaza and the civilian casualties it caused, which were prominent in the news at the time the survey was conducted.“

The reason for the rise in support for the Likud was apparently the attack on Israel’s northern border Wednesday, which occurred while the poll was being taken. The poll found that the percentage of respondents who want Netanyahu to remain prime minister rose from 38% last week to 44%, tying the highest- ever result with a poll on January 1, when rockets were fired from Gaza.

„A fourth operation in the Gaza Strip is inevitable, just as a third Lebanon war is inevitable“ because of indecisiveness in Israel‘s response to the Hezbollah attack in Mt. Dov, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Ynet on Sunday morning.

(26.1.) The group V15, which denies that its motto is ‘anyone but Bibi,’ is working with U.S. political strategist Jeremy Bird to replace the government in March.

(27.1.) OneVoice Israel has launched a partnership with V15, an independent grassroots movement, to empower everyday Israelis to chart a more secure and prosperous future for their country. As a non-partisan movement founded by young adults just as the 2015 Israeli elections were announced, V15 members have set aside party affiliation to disrupt the status quo.

Sara Netanyahu is said to have instructed her domestic staff to recycle the empty containers, purchased with public funds, in exchange for cash at supermarkets.

„She would collect the bottles obsessively. ‚Here‘s a bottle, here‘s another bottle.‘ She would buzz the intercom and say: ‚Meni, I sent you another bottle,'“ said Mr Naftali, in an interview with the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth published on Friday,

Im vergangenen Monat musste er seine Frau bereits gegen Vorwürfe von Ex-Angestellten in Schutz nehmen. Diese beschuldigen die First Lady, sie mit Wutausbrüchen und übertriebenen Wünschen tyrannisiert zu haben – besonders unter Alkoholeinfluss.

The membership of the State of Palestine to the ICC is likely to be fully accepted on April 1, after which Palestine can raise the issue of illegal Israeli settlement construction and expansion for scrutiny.

Jewish-Arab cooperation is the only way to stop Israel from careening down the nationalist-fanatic slope.

Netanyahu‘s only concern is survival, which is why it‘s impossible to believe anything he says.

it argues, there had not been sufficient exploration into the consequences of the Palestinians being accepted as signatories to the Rome Statute. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requested to join the Statute (and a host of other international bodies) in December, and the Palestinian Authority‘s membership comes into effect on April 1.