Following his early morning meeting with US envoy George Mitchell, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that during their discussions, "new and interesting ideas" were raised for the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

Israel is looking into adopting Haitians orphaned by the January 12 earthquake, Minister of Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday.

Syria and Hezbollah have gone on alert anticipating an Israeli attack on Lebanon, the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat daily reported on Friday.

If the border with Egypt is not closed, then al-Qaida may use Sudanese refugees making their way into the country as cover to infiltrate and set up terrorist cells in Israel, senior IDF officials told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a tour on Thursday of two observation posts along the Sinai border.

President Obama acknowledged that the Middle East peace process has not moved forward.

Two days after the pope's visit to a Rome synagogue, the Vatican issued a document citing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one of the main challenges facing Christians in the Middle East.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with US Mideast envoy George Mitchell in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning, to discuss security and diplomatic matters.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised Lebanese President Michel Suleiman that he would help "rein in Israel," according to a report Wednesday in the London-based Arabic-language daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Republican upset in the race for the U.S. Senate seat held for nearly half a century by liberal Edward M. Kennedy reflects a huge victory for opponents of U.S. President Barack Obama - and also for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

OC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan left Monday night to head a second IDF delegation to assist the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti, and will deliver staff reinforcements and additional medicine and equipment to the field hospital in Port-au-Prince.