Israel and Palestine

Israeli "domestic issues" take on new meaning

Matt Beynon ReesJanuary 25, 2010 07:41Updated May 30, 2010 13:19

JERUSALEM — Billions of dollars in aid, bulging frequent-flier accounts for U.S. diplomats, and several thousand dead ought to be proof enough that the Middle East peace process has churned through the last decade and a half without getting anywhere. But if you need more evidence, here it is: The Israeli Prime Minister’s wife is still allegedly screaming at her housekeeper.

On Location: Gaza — The politics of pumping iron

Jon JensenJanuary 15, 2010 07:35Updated May 30, 2010 13:18

Back to diplomacy school for Israel?

Matt Beynon ReesJanuary 21, 2010 08:15Updated May 30, 2010 13:18

JERUSALEM, Israel — The American humorist Caskie Stinnett once wrote that “a diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.” In other words, someone who doesn’t make his meaning so clear that one is both afraid of the trip to hell and angry about being sent there. Which makes Israel’s two top “diplomats” rather less than diplomatic.

Israelis put up a parking lot

Daniella CheslowJanuary 13, 2010 07:36Updated May 30, 2010 13:18

Palestinan road to nowhere

Daniella CheslowJanuary 13, 2010 07:37Updated May 30, 2010 13:18

JERUSALEM — Highway 443 is about 15.5 miles long, nine miles of which run through the West Bank — Palestinian territory. An estimated 40,000 cars ply the highway daily, all of them Israeli.

Israeli ultra-orthodox rail against net use

Ben LynfieldJanuary 16, 2010 10:35Updated May 30, 2010 13:18

JERUSALEM, Israel — Ultra-orthodox rabbis in Israel have launched what they claim is a ''divinely ordained war'' against use of the internet among their followers. They charge that the web is filled with ''abomination'' and can cause the faithful to abandon the strict religious way of life. ''The campaign against the internet and the ultra-orthodox websites that destroy everything that is good is a divinely ordained war,'' rabbi Shmuel Halevy Vozner, a prominent interpreter of Jewish law, wrote last week in HaModia newspaper.

Analysis: Israel listening to world opinion?

Ben LynfieldJanuary 7, 2010 19:19Updated May 30, 2010 13:18

JERUSALEM — A decision by Israel to take legal advice during combat marks a belated acknowledgment that its international standing has been badly wounded by last year's bombardment of Gaza. Israel now realizes it can no longer ignore criticism of alleged war crimes, which it denies. Still, the move by chief of staff Maj. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi’s — involving increased participation of army legal advisers in real time — is a limited step and perhaps a largely cosmetic one.

Analysis: The "Palestinian Nelson Mandela"

Matt Beynon ReesJanuary 12, 2010 07:44Updated May 30, 2010 13:17

KOBAR, West Bank — The most important man in Palestinian politics is neither president nor prime minister. He doesn’t shuttle between meetings at the U.S. ambassador’s residence and the Israeli foreign ministry. In fact, he doesn’t go anywhere. He’s in an Israeli jail.

"Miss Palestine" hopefuls sent home

Catrina StewartDecember 22, 2009 07:48Updated May 30, 2010 13:17

RAMALLAH, West Bank — It was never going to be an easy sell. But when the Ramallah authorities ordered the indefinite postponement of the West Bank’s first-ever Miss Palestine contest just days before the final, there was a sense of inevitability about it. Speaking at her fashion company’s Ramallah office just days earlier, organizer Salwa Yusef, 38, had quietly dismissed the difficulties. “We told everyone, ‘give us a chance, and then you can criticize.’” Now, it’s not clear if they’ll even get that chance.

A not-so-merry Christmas in Bethlehem

Catrina StewartDecember 21, 2009 07:48Updated May 30, 2010 13:16

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Bethlehem’s traders face a bleak Christmas this year as they compete for a dwindling share of much-needed tourism revenues. In early December, workers rushed to erect souvenir stalls on Bethlehem’s Manger Square and turn on the Christmas lights in anticipation of the thousands of tourists who will descend on the town to visit the Church of the Nativity, believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus.