Representatives from several Euro-Mediterranean countries, including France, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Romania and Tunisia attended the launch on Tuesday of the 18th MedFilm Festival at a press conference at the Casa del Cinema.

Edelstein, minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, was the keynote speaker for an emergency public forum...The special presentation concentrated on spiraling illegal building by the Negev’s Bedouin inhabitants and challenges to Israeli rule of law as well as solutions to counter the mounting crisis.

My interest in Pakistan and its people didn't start with politics. Although Pakistan was far away from my Jewish American experience, from the few encounters I had with Pakistani people, I must have instinctively identified – or projected – notions I thought I recognised: Like Israelis and Jews, Pakistanis are also a people with a new country, born of turmoil and trauma (around the same time as Israel) and still under construction.

Brand new embassies, booming trade in agriculture, precious stones and information technology together with shadowy security deals: Israel is back in Africa. But this time tycoons and generals are leading the charge.

The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem hosted more than 3,000 tourists from more than 100 countries Tuesday night for the annual Feast of Tabernacles event. "Year after year you come from over a hundred countries to march through the streets of Jerusalem; and in doing so, you remind the people of Israel that we are not alone..."

Netanyahu has been publicly pressuring the Obama administration to set so-called “red lines” that would trigger an American military response to Iran’s growing nuclear program. And the prime minister kicked his campaign into overdrive after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s publicly rebuked his request.

This summer, two groups of international food bloggers visited Israel for the first time on separate all-expense-paid trips, one of which was partially funded by the Tourism Ministry. The goal of these trips and similar ones planned for the future, organizers say, is to expose influential writers to Israel through something as seemingly apolitical as food - and to encourage them to share their impressions of Israeli cuisine and culture with their millions of followers.

The Mejdi Tours company take pains to present both sides of the reality in these parts. With a Palestinian Muslim guide and an Israeli Jewish guide, it wasn't a typical Jerusalem tour. Mejdi was founded on the belief that tourism in conflict zones that addresses local experiences and beliefs can be a tool for intercultural understanding.