Tzipi Livni

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won another term as leader of the ruling rightwing Likud ahead of a snap election, the faction said Jan. 1, easily defeating his lone hard-right challenger.
      

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he wants early elections as soon as possible after dismissing two rebellious cabinet ministers. 

A statement from Netanyahu's office said: "The prime minister plans to call for parliament's dissolution as soon as possible and to go to the people and get a clear mandate to lead Israel."

An arson attack targeting first-grade classrooms at a Jewish-Arab school sparked a wave of condemnation Nov. 30, as months of racial tensions in Jerusalem showed little sign of abating.
      

The Israeli cabinet approved a new law Sunday that would enable easier conversions to Judaism, a move advocates hope will encourage hundreds of thousands of "religionless" Israelis to become Jewish.