JERUSALEM (Reuters) – They’re all aTwitter about the flotilla.

It may still be anyone’s guess when a small international convoy of vessels carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid will set sail from Greece to the Gaza Strip in a challenge to Israel’s naval blockade of the territory run by Hamas Islamists.

But, mindful of the bloodshed at sea and global outcry that marked a similar event last year, the opposing sides are already battling for hearts and minds in the social and mainstream media.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel backtracked on Monday on a threat to bar foreign journalists from entering the country for 10 years if they board a new international aid flotilla that plans to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an official statement said, instructed authorities to exempt foreign reporters from “the usual policy applied to infiltrators and those who enter illegally.”

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israelis are cheesed off and they’re turning to Facebook to spread the word.

Using the same social networking tool that has helped to fuel political revolt in the Middle East, more than 60,000 people in Israel have rallied to a call to defend a beloved staple of their society.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The father of a man Egypt has arrested as an Israeli spy said on Monday his son was a student who volunteered for a U.S. refugee agency and described Egypt’s allegations as “totally delusional.”

Ilan Grapel, a U.S. immigrant to Israel, was detained on Sunday, which could strain Israel’s relations with Egypt’s new leaders.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An alleged Israeli spy arrested in Egypt is an American immigrant to Israel who once wrote that he hoped to promote Israeli policies in the Arab world, according to information he and others provided on websites.

The man, detained on Sunday in a development that could strain Israel’s relations with Egypt’s new leaders, was identified by the Egyptian MENA news agency as Ilan Chaim Grabel, a misspelling of his family name, Grapel.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said explicitly for the first time on Tuesday he was prepared to give up some settlements for peace, but he laid out familiar demands unlikely to draw the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Treated to standing ovations from U.S. lawmakers just days after strained talks with President Barack Obama, Netanyahu said he was ready for “painful compromises.” But Palestinians swiftly rejected his list of conditions as unacceptable.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israel must seek peace with the Palestinians that will entail “painful compromises” including the handover of biblical land dear to Jews, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Addressing the U.S. Congress after a testy exchange last week with President Barack Obama about the contours of a future Palestine state, the right-wing Israeli leader reiterated Israel’s terms for permanent accord.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would set forth his view of a future Middle East peace in an address to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday and reaffirmed Israel would never return to its old, narrow borders.

“I will outline a vision for a secure Israeli-Palestinian peace,” the right-wing Israeli leader said on Monday about his planned address to a joint meeting of Congress.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress on Tuesday, many will be watching to see whether he escalates a war of words with the White House over how to make peace in the Middle East.

Netanyahu has a mostly sympathetic ear in Congress, where few lawmakers in either party speak up for the Palestinians, hewing to decades of close U.S.-Israeli ties.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress on Tuesday, many will be watching to see whether he escalates a war of words with the White House over how to make peace in the Middle East.

Netanyahu has a mostly sympathetic ear in Congress, where few lawmakers in either party speak up for the Palestinians, hewing to decades of close U.S.-Israeli ties.