Clinton: US-Israeli Relations Need to Be 'Constructive'

Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S.-Israeli relationship needs to return to "constructive footing," according to a prominent Jewish leader who spoke to the former secretary of state during the weekend.

Clinton said the U.S. and Israel need to get back to shared concerns and interests, including a negotiated two-state solution, according to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

"Secretary Clinton thinks we need to all work together to return the special US-Israel relationship to constructive footing," the group's executive vice chairman, Malcolm Hoenlein, said in the statement quoting Clinton's comments. The statement concluded: "We must ensure that Israel never becomes a partisan issue."

Clinton has avoided publicly discussing American relations with Israel in recent weeks, which have been strained by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to Palestinian statehood and a late campaign warning that Arab voters were heading to the polls "in droves."

Netanyahu has backtracked his statements but the White House said it had hurt prospects of negotiating a two-state solution.

Clinton has longstanding ties to Netanyahu, who first served as prime minister during the second term of her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton wrote in her latest book that Netanyahu was a "complicated figure" who was skeptical of a two-state solution giving Palestinians their own country.

In a 2014 interview, Clinton said she had maintained a good relationship with Netanyahu "in part because we can yell at each other, and we do. And I was often the designated yeller."

Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill confirmed that she spoke with Hoenlein by phone on Sunday but declined to elaborate.

A Look at Former Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert's Career

An Israeli court has found former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert guilty on charges of fraud and breach of trust in a case involving allegations he accepted cash-stuffed envelopes from an American supporter.

Here's a look at Olmert's four-decade political career:

1973 — Olmert follows in his father's footsteps and is elected to parliament as member of the nationalist Likud party.

1988 — Olmert joins the Cabinet of hawkish Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.

1993 — Olmert is elected mayor of Jerusalem, beating legendary longtime mayor Teddy Kollek.

1996 — Olmert supervises completion of an archaeological tunnel near a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, triggering deadly Palestinian riots.

2003 — Olmert serves as vice premier in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet.

December 2003 — Olmert gives interview that runs counter to Likud ideology saying he believes Israel must pull out of much of the land it captured from Jordan and Egypt in the 1967 Mideast War, which Palestinians want for a state. It set the stage for Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank in 2005.

November 2005 — Olmert breaks away from Likud to form centrist Kadima Party along with Sharon.

January 2006 — Olmert becomes acting prime minister after Sharon suffers stroke.

March 2006 — Olmert leads Kadima to victory in parliamentary elections on a platform of pushing further peace moves with the Palestinians.

July 2006 — Olmert leads Israel in unpopular monthlong war in Lebanon after Hezbollah guerrillas capture two Israeli soldiers in cross-border raid.

2007 — Olmert relaunches U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians in Annapolis, Maryland. Olmert claims to make great progress, though more than a year of talks end without a deal.

September 2007 — A nuclear facility in Syria is destroyed in an airstrike that Israel is widely suspected of carrying out.

September 2008 — Olmert announces resignation to face corruption allegations.

December 2008 — Olmert leads three-week military offensive against Gaza militants in response to rocket attacks on Israel. The campaign draws international criticism because of its heavy civilian death toll.

March 2009 — Olmert leaves office after Benjamin Netanyahu becomes prime minister.

2012 — Olmert is acquitted of most serious allegations in corruption trial, raising hopes for a political comeback.

March 2014 — Court convicts Olmert in a separate bribery trial.

May 2014 — Olmert sentenced to six years in jail in bribery case. Olmert vows appeal but is ordered to report to prison on Sept. 1.

September 2014 — Israeli Supreme Court rules Olmert can stay out of prison until verdict in the bribery case appeal.

March 2015 — Israeli court finds Olmert guilty on charges of fraud and breach of trust in a case involving allegations he accepted cash-stuffed envelopes from an American supporter.

Former Israeli Premier Olmert Found Guilty in Bribery Case

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been found guilty of fraud and breach of trust in a retrial on corruption charges.

The ruling came down Monday in Jerusalem District Court.

Olmert was acquitted in 2012 of charges he accepted cash-stuffed envelopes from an American supporter. But Olmert's longtime confidant later became a state's witness, offering tape recordings of conversations with Olmert about receiving the cash, leading to a retrial.

Israel Installs Solar Panels at Parliament to Save Energy

Israel has installed solar panels on the roof of its parliament building, creating what it calls the largest solar field of any national assembly in the world.

The office of the parliament speaker says energy generated from some 1,500 solar panels will provide 10 percent of the electricity used at the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

The Knesset is also advancing other energy-saving projects, like installing energy-saving lights, automatically shutting down lawmakers' computers at the end of each workday, and using air conditioning systems to help irrigate the gardens surrounding the building.

The statement says the measures will reduce the Knesset's energy use by a third.

Scientists will also conduct ecological research on the parliament roof.

The Knesset unveiled the solar field in a dedication ceremony Sunday.

Israel kills more Palestinians in 2014 than in any other year since 1967

Israel killed more Palestinian civilians in 2014 than any in other year since the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip began in 1967, a UN report has said.

Israel’s activities in the occupied territories resulted in the deaths of 2,314 Palestinians and 17,125 injuries last year, compared with 39 deaths and 3,964 injuries in 2013, according to the annual report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The conflict in Gaza in July and August was largely responsible for the dramatic increase in fatalities. It claimed the lives of 2,220 Gazans, of whom 1,492 were civilians, 605 militants and 123 unverified.

More than 11,000 people were injured and about 500,000 Palestinians were internally displaced at height of the conflict. About 100,000 remain so.

There was also a sharp rise in fatalities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where 58 Palestinians were killed and 6,028 injured - the highest number of fatalities in incidents involving Israeli forces since 2007 and the highest number of injuries since 2005.

Mostly of the incidents took place in the second half of the year, following the abduction and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, which led to daily riots and protests in East Jerusalem.

Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian, was kidnapped and killed in July, following the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers the previous month.

OCHA’s report also notes an increase in the Israeli armed forces’ use of live ammunition, which accounted for almost all fatalities and 18% of injuries.

Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians - mostly settlers but also security forces - also rose in 2014, with Israeli fatalities increasing from four to 12. Incidents of settler violence resulting in Palestinian casualties and injuries increased, but the number of incidents leading to Palestinian property and land being damaged decreased.

The number of Palestinians held in administrative detention by Israeli authorities increased by 24% in 2014, but decreased when it came to children. A monthly average of 185 were held last year compared with 197 in 2013, a decrease of 6%. No children under 14 years old were held in military detention in 2014.

The report, entitled Fragmented Lives, also documents an increase in the number of Palestinians injured, incarcerated and displaced, compared with the two previous years.

Amnesty International accuses militants in Gaza of war crimes in 2014 conflict

Amnesty International said in a report Thursday that Palestinian militant organisations had committed war crimes during the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict, by killing both Israeli and Palestinian civilians using indiscriminate projectiles.

The report comes after two other reports issued in late 2014 that accused Israel of war crimes for attacks on multi-story civilian buildings and attacks on Palestinian residential homes during the war.

The 50-day Gaza war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian and UN officials. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.

Palestinian militants, including the armed wing of Hamas, launched unguided rockets and mortars which cannot be aimed at a specific target and are a breach of international law, the human rights group said.

Six civilians in Israel were killed in such attacks, and 13 Palestinian civilians were killed when a Palestinian projectile launched from the Gaza Strip apparently landed in a Gaza refugee camp.

Palestinians have claimed that the Israeli military was responsible for that attack, but Amnesty International said an independent munitions expert examining the evidence on the group’s behalf concluded that a Palestinian rocket was responsible.

The report also alleged other international humanitarian law violations during the conflict, including Palestinian militant groups’ storing munitions in civilian buildings and United Nations schools, and launching attacks near locations where hundreds of displaced civilians were taking shelter.

“The devastating impact of Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians during the conflict is undeniable, but violations by one side in a conflict can never justify violations by their opponents,” said Philip Luther of Amnesty International.

Luther called on both Israeli and Palestinian authorities to cooperate with UN and International Criminal Court probes “to end decades of impunity that have perpetuated a cycle of violations in which civilians on both sides have paid a heavy price.”

Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Amnesty Says Gazan Militants Committed War Crimesd

The human rights group Amnesty International said in a report Thursday that Palestinian militant organizations had committed war crimes during the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict, by killing both Israeli and Palestinian civilians using indiscriminate projectiles.

The report comes after two other reports issued in late 2014 that accused Israel of war crimes for attacks on multistory civilian buildings and attacks on Palestinian residential homes during the war.

The 50-day Gaza war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.

Palestinian militants, including the armed wing of Hamas, launched unguided rockets and mortars which cannot be aimed at a specific target and are a breach of international law, the human rights group said.

Six civilians in Israel were killed in such attacks, and 13 Palestinian civilians were killed when a Palestinian projectile launched from the Gaza Strip apparently landed in a Gaza refugee camp.

Palestinians have claimed that the Israeli military was responsible for that attack, but Amnesty International said an independent munitions expert examining the evidence on the group's behalf concluded that a Palestinian rocket was responsible.

The report also alleged other international humanitarian law violations during the conflict, including Palestinian militant groups' storing munitions in civilian buildings and United Nations schools, and launching attacks near locations where hundreds of displaced civilians were taking shelter.

"The devastating impact of Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians during the conflict is undeniable, but violations by one side in a conflict can never justify violations by their opponents," said Philip Luther of Amnesty International.

Luther called on both Israeli and Palestinian authorities to cooperate with U.N. and International Criminal Court probes "to end decades of impunity that have perpetuated a cycle of violations in which civilians on both sides have paid a heavy price."

Hamas officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.