People in both Israel and Azerbaijan are far from understanding how our peoples live - they are unaware of the culture, political views and history of our countries. And this is despite the fact that large numbers of immigrants arrived in Israel from Azerbaijan. In this situation, the mutual exchange of delegations, media workers and promoters of culture, of course, can play an important role in improving relations between our peoples.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday that the United States has lost its influence in the Middle East due to its failure to contribute to regional peace, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Republicca.

A new company called Debate Ltd. is helping Israel mobilize one of its most valuable resources – citizens traveling abroad – to counter negative media portrayals and improve its image.

Israel's government rejected a Qatari offer to re-establish trade relations that would have allowed the Gulf state to provide aid to Gaza, two senior Israeli government officials said Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened top advisers Tuesday to assess an Iranian nuclear deal with Turkey and Brazil that may stall the new U.N. sanctions Israel seeks against Tehran, officials said. The unscheduled inner cabinet meeting, accompanied by an announcement from Netanyahu's office that ministers were under orders to withhold public comment, reflected Israel's worries about the efficacy of foreign efforts to negotiate with Iran.

It has been almost 17 years since Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands in the White House Rose Garden, setting in motion a process that was supposed to end the conflict for good.

Israel's ambassador to El Salvador says a Salvadoran diplomat will be named as one of the "Righteous Among the Nations" for helping save Jews during World War II. Ambassador Mattanya Cohen says the distinction will be awarded posthumously to Jose Arturo Castellanos, who gave citizenship certificates to as many as 40,000 Jews during the Holocaust.

Don't confuse these talks with Kissinger-era shuttle diplomacy, when American envoys stayed in the region for weeks, moving back and forth to close the gaps; chief negotiator George Mitchell went home right after last weekend’s opening session and doesn’t plan to return before next week.