During Vice President Joseph Biden's recent visit to the State of Israel, Israeli Interior Secretary Eli Yishai approved the plans for a highly-controversial 1600-apartment complex in East Jerusalem.

The World Zionist Organization, the embodiment of secular Zionist ideology, has accepted the haredi Sephardi Shas party's request to be accepted as a full-fledged member in a vote taken Monday.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish party run by an octogenarian rabbi who has said Hurricane Katrina was divine punishment emerged Thursday as the kingmaker in forming the next Israeli government.

The Knesset passed the first reading of a bill initiated by Likud Knesset Member Gideon Sa'ar, which requires a two-thirds majority of Knesset Members (MKs) to change the status of Jerusalem.

Minister of Industry and Trade Eli Yishai said this week that the religious party he represents, Shas, will not be able to remain in the coalition if the government promotes further Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank.