In Short

Hezbollah Expands Claims on Territory
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A senior Hezbollah official said large parts of northern Israel belong to Lebanon.

Nawaf Musawi, the organization's head of international relations, said Nov. 3 that Israel's pullback in 2000 left at least seven villages and 20 farms under Israel's control and that the so-called "blue line" approved by the U.N. is simply a "withdrawal line."

The new claim is significant because it suggests Hezbollah will find new justifications to maintain its attacks against Israel. This belies Hezbollah's argument that it is a militia intent on protecting Lebanese sovereignty and not a terrorist group intent on Israel's destruction.

Livni: No Rush to Interim Agreement
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel will continue participating in the peace process as long as its political and security interests are met, Tzipi Livni said.

Israel's foreign minister met Nov. 4 with Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch in advance of a meeting scheduled for Thursday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In an interview Monday with Ynet, Livni said she will not rush to sign an interim agreement with the Palestinians by year's end, the target date set by the United States.

Outposts Funding to Be Completely Cut
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The Israeli government approved stricter measures against Jewish outposts in the West Bank.

During Sunday's Cabinet meeting, government ministers agreed to remove all support for the outposts, including funding or providing infrastructure. The plan also will include an increase in monitoring settler activities, the demolition of illegal structures in the West Bank and an expedited process to arrest settlers who break the law, including administrative injunctions and restraining orders.

The agreement came after Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin on Sunday warned the Cabinet, on the eve of the anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a right-wing extremist, that another political assassination could occur in the near future.

Jewish Agency Faces $45 Million Cut
NEW YORK (JTA) -- The Jewish Agency for Israel will cut its 2009 budget by $45 million.

Some $12.5 million in cuts will come from organizational restructuring and cutting management costs. The agency also will make significant cuts in traditional grants given to other institutions in Israel, as well as a $13 million reduction in actual programming. But it will not limit any of its core initiatives, the agency said.

The group already has slashed 20 percent of its workforce since 2003, but more staff layoffs are in the offing. The agency's budget deficit was the result of the drop in the dollar's value vis-à-vis the shekel -- a trend that has reversed itself in recent weeks -- and inflation.

Israeli TV Pulls Assassin Interview
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Two Israeli TV channels canceled planned broadcasts of an interview with Yitzhak Rabin's killer.

After excerpts from the interview with Yigal Amir were aired last Thursday evening by the stations as promos, Rabin family members and broadcast officials reacted furiously, prompting the networks, Israel's Channel Two and 10, to cancel the full broadcasts.

During the interview, Amir reveals that he got the idea to murder Rabin after the two were both guests at a wedding, and Amir realized that the prime minister was protected by a single bodyguard.

"I was inside with a gun. I saw that it was so easy and told myself that in several years I would regret not having killed him," said Amir.