Israel is sending a ship to Turkey on Monday with a large and noisy cargo on board. This shipment is part of a decades-long struggle, but one against nature: it aims to calm ties between the two countries while simultaneously saving Asian pachyderms from extinction.

On Saturday, Israeli Jews were among those sipping the signature, honey-colored Palestinian beer. After the years of conflict, the chance to mingle over a beer was a welcome change for some.

They asked Ben-Gurion University to work with Palestinian universities on research projects, and to start the collaborations within six months if it wants to maintain ties with the University of Johannesburg.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faces an impossible choice: walk out of the talks with Israel and the chance for a peaceful two state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, or accept the continuation of illegal Israeli settlements eroding even further Palestinian land in the West Bank.

Co-Author: Sam Schneider

A pro-Palestinian group says it will break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by flying a planeload of aid into the coastal strip. The U.S.-based Free Palestine Movement said on its website that it will “raise the ante and challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza by air.”

Countries as diverse as the United States and North Korea have all struggled at the nexus of statehood and social media. Until now, none have had to purchase the Twitter handle of their country's name from the owner of a porn site. That dubious honor goes to Israel, which recently purchased the user name @israel from Israel Meléndez, a Spanish man living in Miami, who registered the name back in 2007, early in the microblogging website's history.

A Web site that aims to help Israelis defend the country’s image abroad – which Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein said would be online in April – finally premiered on Sunday. The site (http://masbirim.gov.il/eng/) provides hasbara material related to current events, tips for the “novice ambassador,” myths and facts about Israel and the Arab world, and lists of Israel’s most prominent achievements in science, medicine and agriculture. A Hebrew version of the site has been online since February.