The Birthright Israel Foundation today announced a new $40 million gift from Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson that continues their commitment to fund free, 10-day educational trips for Jewish young adults between the ages of 18 and 26. The gift brings the Adelsons' total donations to the program to a historic $180 million, making them by far the world’s largest private donors to Birthright Israel.

When he was in Israel, Robert Rehak, then-Czech Republic cultural attaché to the Jewish state, practiced soccer diplomacy. Specifically, he organized a model Euro Cup competition for Arab and Jewish school children.

In the same week as China announced a peace plan for the Arab-Israeli conflict and Russia and the United States announced agreement to hold an international conference to try and resolve the Syrian conflict peacefully, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he would return to the region later this month to try and re-start Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the Israeli government announced plans to build 300 new settler homes in the Beit-El colony near Ramallah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to China this week seeking more trade with the world’s second-biggest economy. While his hosts welcomed the overture, they were focused on the Middle East peace process.

There are about 20km (12 miles)—and lots of checkpoints—between the official residence in Jerusalem of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and the headquarters in Ramallah of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. This week, as both leaders made simultaneous official visits to China, care was taken to keep a much greater distance between them. Their itineraries put them in different cities at all times.

This week, the Israel Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs officially closed. With almost no media recognition, it has become a division in the Prime Minister's office. From a ministry to a division, just like that. I find this move unacceptable.

The slogan "Israel Under Fire," used by various Israeli government bodies during Operation Pillar of Defense last November, was disastrous for Israeli tourism, the head of the Tourism Ministry's marketing department said Monday. Speaking at a conference at Haifa University on public diplomacy during the eight-day operation, Oren Drori, deputy director-general of the Tourism Ministry and the head of its marketing efforts, said the slogan caused "serious damage to the Israeli tourism market.

With the threat of a missile strike from North Korea still looming, South Korea is exploring all avenues to defend itself. One possibility is to buy Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defence system. Kim Minjung and her friends are studying Middle East politics at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.