'The whole country is a controlled experiment on humans'

The writer reflects on his divided, conflicted homeland, where yet there is room still for hope

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Sounds International entertains MP for Israel's 60th

Multifaith choir Sounds International entertained an audience including MP Jim Murphy at a concert at Garnethill Synagogue celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary. The choir’s conductor, Eddie Binnie, is also choirmaster of the synagogue.

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How my voice gained confidence with Israel’s

The accomplished novelist, born in Jerusalem in 1939, narrates a personal literary journey

On the hero in Israeli literature

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How we went from two cheese to 900

60 years of Israeli food

Amos Oz wrote in his haunting memoir A Tale of Love and Darkness that the first time he went to France as a young author, his hosts refused to believe him when he said that Israel had only two kinds of cheese: white cheese and yellow cheese.

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Shouting for identity, unity… and gold medals

Israel has successfully used competitive sports to advance priorities such as integrating immigrants and nurturing a sense of national identification among Israelis themselves and Jews worldwide. Sport has also been highly effective in promoting coexistence between the country’s Jews and Arabs.

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The day peace died

The Oslo Accords promised a new era of hope. Paul Lester talks to the rock star who saw those hopes dashed late on November 4, 1995

If The Oslo Accords of August 20, 1993, were a new ray of hope for the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then controversial rock star Aviv Geffen’s performance during a peace rally in the centre of Tel Aviv on November 4, 1995, saw those hopes dashed in one night.

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The 1967 six-day war: a sweetness that turned into ashes

The 1967 six-day war 

The outgoing editor of Ha’aretz recalls the drama of a war that Israel was winning — and confronts his own fears for the future

Not bloody likely,” the callow nineteen-year-old grandly dictated to the telegram clerk at the post office on Jerusalem’s Jaffa Road, a week or so before the Six-Day War. In Golders Green, my parents received the cocky cable with a mixture of pride and trepidation.

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From long-life tomatoes to camera pills

60 years of invention

Israel is a land flowing with more than just milk and honey. If you have ever purchased long-lasting tomatoes, used a device to pluck the hairs from your legs, or sent an instant message, thank Israeli technology.

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Heard the one about...?

Did you hear the one about the Israeli comedian?

The answer is probably not. We have all got our favourite Israeli writers, our favourite Israeli politicians, and even our favourite Israeli spoonbenders.

But Israeli stand-ups? Possibly the nearest many of us have come to Israeli humour is comedian Mark Maier’s comic alter ego, Roni Shmoni. When two English girls ask the fictional Israeli soldier for directions to the beach, he replies: “So you want to sleep with me?” (or words to that effect). We find it easy to laugh at Israelis; but can they laugh at themselves?

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Russian Aliyah: Culture, not just shelter

Russian aliyah:  The massive influx from the former Soviet Union brought ideological challenges — but art offered a way to reach out

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