News about Israel

1, Duh...
U.S.: Assad No Longer Potential Peace Partner for Israel - Hilary Leila Krieger
After two years of pushing Israel to reach a peace agreement with Syria, a top U.S. State Department official indicated Tuesday the Obama administration is no longer looking at the current regime as a partner for such a deal. "It's hard for us to stand by and see [President Bashar] Assad and his government engage in the kind of things they're doing against their own people and to then think easily about how to pursue other diplomatic missions," said Jacob Sullivan, director of policy planning at the State Department. (Jerusalem Post

2. Abbas admits it was Obama all along
Palestinian Leader Defies Israel and Vents about Obama - Dan Ephron
"It was Obama who suggested a full settlement freeze," Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, told me. "I said OK, I accept. We both went up the tree. After that, he came down with a ladder and he removed the ladder and said to me, jump. Three times he did it."

3. Israelis are happier than we are

Israel Ranks 7th in "Happiness Index" - Yitzhak Benhorin (Ynet News)
According to Gallup's global wellbeing survey, published over the weekend, Israel ranked 7th out of 124 countries.
63% of Israelis said they were happy with their lives, compared to 59% in the U.S.