JERUSALEM, Jan 15 (Reuters) – A senior Israeli
official voiced disappointment in the Obama administration on
Sunday, saying “election-year considerations” lay behind its
caution over tough Iran sanctions sought by U.S. legislators.

While Washington has been talking tougher about Iran’s
nuclear work and threat to block oil export routes out of the
Gulf if hit with harsher sanctions, new U.S. measures adopted on
Dec. 31 gave President Barak Obama leeway on the scope of
penalties on the Iranian central bank and oil exports.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s top court has upheld a law denying citizenship to Palestinians married to Israelis, with one judge saying it helped the Jewish state fend off “national suicide.”

By a 6-to-5 vote, the Supreme Court late Wednesday rejected petitions against the 2003 ban, which civil liberty groups denounced as racist for potentially forcing members of Israel’s 20-percent Arab minority who wed Palestinians to emigrate.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – If Mossad assassins were behind the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist on Wednesday, it would be the latest chapter in a long history of Israeli covert action against foes best not confronted with full force.

As always, Israeli officials declined any comment on the death of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was blown up in his car, while Iran itself immediately pinned the blame on Israel.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – If Mossad assassins were behind the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist Wednesday, it would be the latest chapter in a long history of Israeli covert action against foes best not confronted with full force.

As always, Israeli officials declined any comment on the death of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who was blown up in his car, while Iran itself immediately pinned the blame on Israel.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed newly rekindled diplomatic contacts with the Palestinians Monday, accusing them of poor faith in peacemaking.

Firing back as Israeli and Palestinian envoys prepared a second round of the low-key but potentially decisive exploratory talks later in the day, the Palestinians said Israel was at fault for cementing its hold on the occupied West Bank.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel will boost defense spending by about 6 percent this year in the face of deepening regional instability, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, defying calls for cuts as living standards are squeezed.

Israel will spend an additional 3 billion shekels ($780 million) on defense this year. The 2012 budget had been projected at around 50 billion shekels, broadly unchanged from last year.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said Saturday the online publication of thousands of its citizens’ credit card details by a hacker claiming to be Saudi was comparable to terrorism, and vowed to hit back.

The data theft, which appeared to focus on commercial web sites, was one of the worst Israel has said it has faced. While the financial damage was reportedly minimal, the breaches have heightened concerns about the potential use of stolen information by the Jewish state’s foes.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet this week after more than a year of deadlocked peacemaking, officials said on Sunday, but both sides played down prospects of any imminent resumption of talks.

Yitzhak Molcho of Israel and Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat will meet on Tuesday in Jordan alongside representatives of the Quartet of Middle East mediators – the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters)- Israel killed the leader of an al Qaeda-inspired faction in the Gaza Strip on Friday, accusing him of involvement in firing rockets and a planned attack on the Jewish state from the neighboring Egyptian Sinai.

The deadly air strike was Israel’s second against a Salafi Islamist militant this week. Militants identified him as Momen Abu Daf, chief of the Army of Islam, among a loose network of Palestinian groups which profess allegiance to al Qaeda and have been reinforced by volunteers who slip in from the Sinai.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up pledges to curb Jewish zealotry in Israel on Sunday after an 8-year-old girl complained of being menaced by ultra-Orthodox men who deemed her dress immodest.

While his conservative government insists such incidents are fringe phenomena in the mostly secular country, Netanyahu’s repeated announcements on the matter reflected concern about widening religious and political schisms.