ben wedeman live in jerusalem with the latest for us this morning. ben, what can you tell us about this plot? >> reporter: yes, christine, this plot was announced by shin bet, israel's formidable domestic security agency, which says they arrested these three men, two in jerusalem, one in the northern west bank, who were recruited by a man in gaza. and apparently, the plan was for one of those three men to travel from here to turkey and then into northern syria where he would receive military training. in the meantime, the same men received instructions from his recruiter in gaza on how to manufacture explosive devices. when this man returns from syria, he was supposed to get in touch with what are described as foreign terrorists who would have entered israel with forged russian passports. now, one of the targets they were looking at was the u.s. embassy in tel aviv as well as the international convention center here in jerusalem, really not far from where i'm standing. in addition, they would have attacked an israeli bus on the west bank. now, what's

let's get to ben wedeman in jerusalem. ese comments from the ultra orthodox jews and they are pretty harsh. this one quote coming from a member of parliament, saying, "any jew who wants to maintain his roots, wants to see his son marry a jewish girl. there is no shortage of beautiful, successful girls, without sowing in the fields of others." >> reporter: let's first of all point out that, kyra, the prime minister himself doesn't seem to mind the relationship. in fact, when he was in davos, switzerland, recently, he met with his norwegian counterpart and bragged and joked about the relationship. but it's true. for some here in israel, it is not a joking matter. there are many people who are opposed to what they call assimilation, intermarriage between jews and nonjews, and one of the groups pushing this agenda has called on the prime minister himself to try to prevent, in their words, their relationship. but it's important to keep in mind that prime minister netanyahu himself was married from 1981 to 198 4 to a nonjewish wo

cnn's senior international correspondent ben wedeman has covered israel for years. ben, i want you now that we have that statement in to kind of talk to us about what sharon meant to the people of israel both in his role as a general and prime minister but if you can that relationship with the u.s. >> certainly he was a man who he didn't always have a good relationship with the u.s. when he was israeli defense minister in 1982 and the architect of the israeli invasion of lebanon. there was a good deal of unhappiness in the reagan white house at the time with that invasion and certainly ariel sharon was not a beloved figure among senior israeli officials around the american officials at the time. and certainly when he was elected prime minister in january 2001 there was a lot of concern among american officials that, given his reputation as a hawk, as a hard liner, that he would certainly complicate an already complicated situation at the time. you will remember we were several months into the second palestinian, there was violence, bombings in the streets of jerusale

ben wedeman in jerusalem for us this morning. thank you, ben. >>> on wall street this morning, seven trading days into the year, not looking so good. there's no crystal ball, of course, but some worry this isn't a good omen for the new year. major averages down so far this year, could be another lower open today. the 2014 declines, they're not huge, but it's not usually what we see. historically, stocks tend to rise at the beginning of the year. new money is flowing into the market. but now the blue chips are down for the first time since 2009. some worry it could mean it won't be such a hot year for stocks. again, no crystal ball. most analysts surveyed by cnn money, cbs and p-500 rising 5% to 10%, compared with the nearly 30% surge last year. but wall street's still cautiously optimistic, despite friday's weak jobs report. the data is not hitting the stock markets overseas, either. europe's major averages just opened higher. that's how europe is doing right now. and asia has just closed with modest gains. >> turn this thing arou

ben wedeman, thank you for bringing us perspective from jerusalem.ouse to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ and better is so easy withrning you cabenefiber.o something better for yourself. fiber that's taste-free, grit-free and dissolves completely. so you can feel free to add it to anything. and feel better about doing it. better it with benefiber. there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ]

well, ben wedeman is joining us from jerusalem. hould point out, ben, the defense minister's comments were published in a leading newspaper, hasn't denied making these remarks. so what is behind this, first of all, how does he explain it, and why the apology to follow? >> reporter: well, first of all, actually, he didn't say these remarks to an israeli newspaper. a journalist overheard him say these remarks. and then they were published. he didn't deny them, of course, as you said. but the context is that he's a fairly hard liner in a fairly hard line government. which is unhappy about the fact that john kerry is basically saying, we need to start from the 1967 borders when we're looking at reviving the peace process. and many of these officials have said that the 1967 borders, as far as israel is concerned, are a nonstarter. >> yeah. and at least yesterday told us that, you know, there's a lot of tension because of these comments, because of these talks that are going on. and a lot of tension here. do you think the apology is enoug

i want to get to ben wedeman live in jerusalem. who are the suspects and what exactly are they accused of hatching here? >> there are three suspects from palestinian and east jerusalem. what according to israel's fairly formidable domestic security agency, a man in gaza contacted by a facebook and skype one of these three men in east jerusalem and sent him files on how to manufacture explosive devices. now, this man, according to the shin bet, was going to go to turkey and then into the rebel-controlled parts of northern syria where he would receive military training. he would then return to israel, hook up with jihadis who would have entered the country with forged russian passports and he would have provided explosives and other material with which these jihadis would have attacked u.s. embassy in tel aviv. the convention center in jerusalem, which is just near the cnn bureau, as well as attacking an israeli bus on the west bank. what's interesting in all of this is the syria angle. just yesterday, jake, i was speaking with a sen

let's go straight to our senior international correspondent ben wedeman. he's joining us from jerusalem. what's the latest, ben? what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, this is a statement that came from shin bet, israel's formidable domestic security agency which says they've broken up this ring of three men in east jerusalem as well as in the west bank. now, according to the statement by shin bet, a man in gaza recruited these three men over the internet using facebook, skype, and other social media. now, according to the statement, one of the men was assigned to go travel to turkey and from there to northern syria to receive military training. he would then return to israel where he would get hooked up with jihadis from abroad who would have entered israel with forged russian passports. he would provide them with explosives and other weapons. and they would carry out a suicide bombing against the u.s. embassy in tel aviv. the convention center here in jerusalem which isn't far from the cnn bureau and would also attack an israeli bus in the west bank. no

ben wedeman joins me live from ja. >> he has been out of the political scene since january of 2006, whenhat brain hemorrhage that left him in a semivegetative state for the last eight years. also on the 1st of january was when news came out that his situation came out that he had deteriorated, his kidneys were failing, he had a blood infection and other medical complications. so, it doesn't really come as a surprise. when he went into that coma, you really felt it much more than you do today in the sense that i think plenty of them do mourn the passing of ariel sharon. they've sort of come to terms with his death long before his death was actually announced. >> now, he was a controversial figure. to some people. how might he be remembered? we heard the words of netanyahu, or at least i read the statement of his words. paying homage to ariel sharon, but in general, how might israelis be membremembering him? >> you won't find too many israelis who say he didn't play a large role. whether it was negative or positive was another question, but even his opponents, people in the opposition when