The prospects for progress in the direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington look meagre, says Paul Rogers. But breakthrough is essential if Israel is to be saved from itself.

A court has returned a “not guilty” verdict on activists who caused a quarter of a million pounds' worth of damage to the property of the arms company EDO/ITT.

The revelation that the Israeli government in the 1980s considered selling nuclear weapons to the apartheid regime in South Africa has triggered fresh criticisms of Israel's current nuclear policies.

Israel joining the OECD at a time when civil society in the country is increasingly under threat is a matter of real concern, say development and human rights NGOs.