Friday August 8, 2008, North Israel, Israel

Tzipi Livni

Exclusive: Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in her car on her way to visit a few villages in North Israel as part of her campaign. Livni is running against Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz for the leadership of Kadima party to be decided upon in September 2008. Livni won the the support of a minister close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday, boosting her bid to lead the ruling Kadima party and possibly become premier.

Tzipi Livni in car on cell phone, with Gil Mesing, media advisor and personal assistant

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Wednesday September 10, 2008, North Israel, Israel

Israeli military officers train in commando course

Israeli military officers from the Kfir brigade conduct a 4 week commando course in north Israel designed to maximize the brigade's leading junior officers abilities and motivation. The platoon commanders and company deputy commanders are hand picked for the course by the brigade's high command, and then spend a month in northern Israel drilling full contact Krav Maga, sentry take downs, firearms, solo navigation, carrying heavy loads, survival, scouting, intelligence gathering, stealth techniques and high risk arrests. The famed Kfir brigade's area of expertise is CQB, (Close Quarters Battle) and the Palestinian territories.

Israeli military officers with camoflaged faces during commando course

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Wednesday January 14, 2009, Israel / Gaza border

Israel continues offensive in Gaza

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has now passed 1000 as Israeli forces continue efforts to liquidate Hamas leaders and infrastructure. The offensive, now in its third week, began as a response to continued rocket launches by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli soldier examines the barrel of a tank on the border with the Gaza strip

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Thursday December 4, 2008, Hebron, West Bank, Israel

Hebron settlers expelled by Tsahal

Hebron settlers expelled by Tsahal Israeli security forces stormed a disputed house in the biblical city of Hebron dragging out some 250 settlers who barricaded themselves inside and hurled rocks, eggs and chemicals at their evictors. It was the first major West Bank evacuation since a violent 2006 confrontation that injured hundreds.

Jewish settlers removed from Hebron building by Israeli soldiers

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Saturday January 31, 2009, Jerusalem, Israel

Israeli top candidates on TV show

all three candidates for the Israeli coming elections Benjamin Netanyahu, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak, came to answer questions on channel 2 television that were given by viewers on YouTube website.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Thursday March 22, 2007, Masada, Israel

Jewish Orthodox battalion takes on anti-terror missions

The 'Netzah Yehuda' (Forever Judah) program integrates ultra-Orthodox Jews into combat units in the IDF. The program to draft ultra-Orthodox youth into the Judah Battalion began in 1999. It shows that it is possible to draft ultra-Orthodox youth into a specially tailored unit serving on an all-male base. Time for prayer, Judaic study and classes taught by a rabbi are all built into the schedule, so that the soldiers can continue their intensely religious lifestyle within the framework of the army. The infantry battalion is part of the Kfir brigade positioned in the West Bank and executes anti-terror oriented missions. Many soldiers come from Europe and the USA.

Soldiers from the Jewish Orthodox battalion 'Netzah Yehuda' pray at sunrise.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Tuesday March 11, 2008

Ziv Koren exhibit 2008

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Friday May 26, 2006, Gundar, Ethiopia

The Falashmura long travel from Ethiopia to Israel

Ethiopians during morning prayer in the synagogue in the Falashmura compound in Gundar. Around 14,500 Falashmura people, believed to have Jewish origins, await an immigration permit to Israel in Addis Ababa and Gundar. Around 300 people move to Israel each month after undergoing a long approval and examination process.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Thursday May 15, 2008, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Commonly referred to as "Gitmo", the US Guantanamo Bay detention camp has been operated by Joint Task Force Guantanamo since 2002. The detainment areas consist of three camps: Camp Delta, Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray (which has been closed). The detainees held at the base have been classified by the US as "enemy combatants". Since the beginning of the War on Terror, 775 detainees have been brought to Guantanamo, approximately 420 of which have been released. As of August 9, 2007, approximately 355 detainees remain. On February 9, 2008, it was reported that 6 of the detainees would be tried for conspiracy in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Prisoners are held in small mesh-sided cells, and lights are kept on day and night. Detainees have rations similar to those of U.S. forces, with consideration for Muslim dietary needs. Detainees are kept in isolation most of the day, are blindfolded when moved within the camp and are forbidden to talk in groups of more than three. Red Cross inspectors and released detainees have alleged acts of torture, including sleep deprivation, the use of so-called truth drugs, beatings and locking in confined and cold cells.

A view of a corridor of cells inside Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility's Camp 5. Camp 5 is a 16 million dollar facility completed in May 2004 and holds up to 100 detainees. Military censors delete any images captured of guard's faces inside Guantanamo Bay's Detention Facility.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Thursday May 15, 2008, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Commonly referred to as "Gitmo", the US Guantanamo Bay detention camp has been operated by Joint Task Force Guantanamo since 2002. The detainment areas consist of three camps: Camp Delta, Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray (which has been closed). The detainees held at the base have been classified by the US as "enemy combatants". Since the beginning of the War on Terror, 775 detainees have been brought to Guantanamo, approximately 420 of which have been released. As of August 9, 2007, approximately 355 detainees remain. On February 9, 2008, it was reported that 6 of the detainees would be tried for conspiracy in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Prisoners are held in small mesh-sided cells, and lights are kept on day and night. Detainees have rations similar to those of U.S. forces, with consideration for Muslim dietary needs. Detainees are kept in isolation most of the day, are blindfolded when moved within the camp and are forbidden to talk in groups of more than three. Red Cross inspectors and released detainees have alleged acts of torture, including sleep deprivation, the use of so-called truth drugs, beatings and locking in confined and cold cells.

Detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center behind an enclosure. Their white clothes are part of a color code for guards signifying their level of obedience; white shows the guards they are among the most submissive of the roughly 270 detainees held in Guantanamo Bay.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Tuesday November 27, 2007, Tel Aviv, Israel

From bomb victim to bride

Nearly six years after being injured in a suicide bomb attack on a Tel Aviv coffee shop, 29-year-old Kineret Bosani is preparing for her wedding. Bosani has suffered through dozens of operations to reconstruct her face, hand and other injured body parts since the March 2002 attack, and has since become an Orthodox Jew. On November 27, the married husband, Amir Twig.

Kineret Bosani (C) puts one her wedding dress with the help of her sister Anat (R) and a friend.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Saturday April 26, 2008, Jerusalem, Israel

Orthodox Christians attend Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem

Christian Orthodox pilgrims attend a special Easter prayer at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City. Thousands of Orthodox Christians converged on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Saturday to witness what they believe is the miraculous appearance of "holy fire" on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

A large crowd of Christian Orthodox pilgrims carrying candles inside the CHurch of the Holy Sepulcher.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Saturday April 26, 2008, Jerusalem, Israel

Orthodox Christians attend Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem

Christian Orthodox pilgrims pray as a stream of light enters the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, during the ceremony of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem's Old City. Thousands of Orthodox Christians converged on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Saturday to witness what they believe is the miraculous appearance of "holy fire" on the eve of Orthodox Easter.

A shaft of light streams down on religious pilgrims.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Tuesday March 11, 2008

Ziv Koren exhibit 2008

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Monday June 25, 2007, Kiryat Yam, Israel

The Maled'e Family in the Jewish agency compound in Kiryat yam (near the north town of Haifa) one year after they immigrated from Ethiopia as part of "falashmura" that immigrating about 300 every month.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Monday February 20, 2006, Jerusalem, Israel

Former Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu

Former Israeli Prime Minister and leader of the nation's right-wing Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu at his Jerusalem home. Netanyahu has pointedly criticized the victory of the Islamist group, Hamas, in Palestinian general elections, saying the group poised to form the next Palestinian government could not be "tamed by power." Netanyahu hopes to regain his position as Prime Minister in Israeli general elections to be held in March 2006.

Benjamin Netanyahu

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Friday March 14, 2008

Faces of Israel

Malede Family in the Jewish agency center in Kiryat Yam

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Monday July 28, 2008, Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestinian Authority

Israeli anti terror brigade raids Palestinian residences in West Bank

Israeli anti terror soldiers from the Haruv battalion carry out a military operation in the village El-Arub, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The soldiers raided Palestinian residences based on intelligence information.

Palestinian detained as Israeli soldiers search his residence

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Friday May 18, 2007, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Daily life in Tel Aviv

Daily Life in Tel-Aviv.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Thursday December 4, 2008, Hebron, West Bank, Israel

Hebron settlers expelled by Tsahal

Israeli security forces stormed a disputed house in the biblical city of Hebron dragging out some 250 settlers who barricaded themselves inside and hurled rocks, eggs and chemicals at their evictors. It was the first major West Bank evacuation since a violent 2006 confrontation that injured hundreds.

Jewish settlers removed from Hebron building by Israeli soldiers

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Monday March 3, 2008, Israel

Israeli army enters Gaza

Israel vowed to keep hitting Gaza even as troops pulled out of the Hamas-run territory after clashes that killed more than 110 Palestinians. Israel launched the operation on Saturday in a bid to stop near-daily rocket fire from Gaza, where the Islamist Hamas movement, sworn to Israel's destruction, seized power in June by routing pro-Abbas forces.

Blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinians, detained during an Israeli army operation in the Gaza Strip, are brought to Israel near Kfar Aza, southern Israel.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Friday January 11, 2008, Jerusalem, Israel

Bush visits Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial

United States President George Bush with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as they stand in silence during a solemn ceremony in the 'Hall of Remembrances' in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem on 11 January 2008 when Bush honors the six-million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis in the Holocaust of World War II. Next to Prime Minister Olmert is Avner Shalev, Director of yad Vashem.

L-R: Shimon Peres, George W. Bush and Ehud Olmert, all wearing yarmulkes.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Friday November 30, 2007, Oswiecim, Poland

Visions of Auschwitz

In 1942, Auschwitz-Birkenau became the largest death camp for European Jews as part of Hitler's plan for the complete destruction of the Jewish race. Approximately 1.5 million people died in the Auschwitz death camp, before Soviet soldiers liberated the survivors on January 27, 1945.

The memorial hall in Auschwitz-Birkenau's building 27 is covered with victims' photographs.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Tuesday March 11, 2008

Ziv Koren exhibit 2008

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Monday September 3, 2007, Jerusalem, Israel

At home with Israeli President Shimon Peres

Israeli President Shimon Peres dons his suit jacket while preparing to set off from his Jerusalem residence. With a political career spanning more than half-a-century, Peres first joined the Knesset in 1959, where he served nearly continuously until his election as president on June 13, 2007.

Shimon Peres dons his suit jacket.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Friday August 15, 2008, Kochav Yair, Israel

Israeli Kadima party candidate Shaul Mofaz

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz at his home in Kochav Yair. Mofaz is a candidate for the Kadima party leadership. The party is set to hold a primary in the coming weeks after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's surprise resignation amid a corruption scandal.

Shaul Mofaz reads a book while seated at a table in his home.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Tuesday March 11, 2008

Ziv Koren exhibit 2008

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Friday July 20, 2007, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestinian Territories

Abbas greets newly released Palestinian prisoners

Newly freed Palestinian prisoners are greeted by family members upon their arrival at the presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Israel released more than 250 Palestinian prisoners Friday in a bid to bolster Abbas in his power struggle with the militant Hamas group.

Palestinans wave flags.

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris

Wednesday December 17, 2008, Tel Aviv, Israel

Tzipi Livni cooks gnocchi dinner

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her husband, accountant Naftali Spitzer, in their Tel-Aviv home prepare gnocchi dish for dinner. Livni is running for the position of Prime Minister of Israel in the upcoming elections scheduled for February 10th 2009.

Tzipi Livni (R) in kitchen cutting vegetables for dinner with Naftali Spitzer (L)

Credit: Ziv Koren / Polaris