Checkpoint Jerusalem - McClatchy Newspapers

Olmert to Bush aide: "Holding on..."

Air Force One had yet to touch down at Ben Gurion Airport and the Israeli press was already abuzz with what was likely to happen here once President Bush is gone.

In the wake of its fatal attack on a Reuters cameraman in Gaza, the Israeli military has issued a rather blunt statement to journalists:

In spite of the urging of his attorney, the American businessman at the center of the unfolding investigation of Israeli PM Ehud Olmert is speaking out.

Could Hamas play a decisive role in choosing the next US president?

It probably wasn't how most Israelis wanted to celebrate the 60 years since their nation's founding.

As the Israeli tourism ad below reminds us, life in this part of the Middle East isn't all missiles and bombs, death and destruction, sorrow and anger.

The Israeli courts are keeping a tight lid on disclosures in the unfolding new investigation of PM Ehud Olmert. We are under a gag order in the case that prevents us in Israel from directly writing about the details.

This morning began with a jarring, dream-shattering boom that rattled my apartment windows and echoed across the valley below.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is one of the Middle East's great political survivors.

The Israeli military has wrapped up its investigation into last week's killing of the Gaza mother and her four kids.

(Photo: Lisa Goldman/On The Face)

In the shadows of its more flamboyant Dubai relative, the UAE's capital has methodically been working to establish itself as a cultural hub in the Middle East.

Palestinians carry the body of one of four children of the Abu Meatak family during their funeral in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2008. An Israeli tank shell fired during a clash with Palestinian gunmen tore into a tiny Gaza Strip home on Monday, Palestinian officials said, killing a Palestinian woman and four of her children and threatening efforts to arrange a truce between the warring side.(AP Photo/ Hatem Moussa)

Today marks the end of another holiday season in Jerusalem. Over the past week, bread was hard to come by as Jews celebrated Passover. And, this past weekend, Orthodox Christians celebrated Easter.

As a journalist, there is nothing quite as cutting as being accused of being a liar.

Are Muslim head scarves fascist symbols?

As Israel begins its investigation into the killing of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, there are reports that the government is preparing to pay millions of dollars to the family of another cameraman shot dead by an Israeli soldier in Gaza five years ago.

He came, he saw, he Cartered.

There's nothing that says "Peace on earth and good will towards men" quite like pummeling police with palm fronds in the church where tradition says Jesus rose from the dead.

Next month, Israel will celebrate its 60th birthday in high fashion.

It had been a relatively quiet month in Gaza when 23-year-old Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana got in the company SUV on Wednesday afternoon and headed off with a soundman to cover the latest Israeli military incursion.

A Lemur eats a matza, a cracker-like bread eaten during the Jewish festival of Passover, in the Ramat Gan Safari outside Tel Aviv on Monday, April 14, 2008. The eight-day Passover holiday, during which observant Jews do not eat leavened foods, including bread, begins April 19. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

At the urging of my friend over at Israelity Bites, I recently downloaded PeaceMaker, a video game designed by a former Israeli intelligence officer and one of his American colleagues who are trying to capture the complexities involved in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last summer, a few weeks after Hamas seized military control of the Gaza Strip, I sat on a Mediterranean beach with several Hamas leaders as they sought to divine the future.

Spring in Washington brings cherry blossoms. Spring in the Middle East brings rumors of war.

After RAM FM went on the air last year, the English-language radio station launched an ad campaign with the motto: Music has no boundaries.

As UK PM Benjamin Disraeli is said to have famously stated, there are three kinds of lies: "Lies, damn lies and statistics."