Obama will not carry with him a detailed proposal for how Israelis and Palestinians might resume talks, such as the one he offered in 2010. He instead plans a listening tour in Jerusalem and in Ramallah to solicit views on what the two sides want and to explore what may be possible.

“I replied to them that in my personal opinion, the further Israeli films move away from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the better they are, the more credible they are and the more artistic they are...Levy, who has apparently confused hasbara – so-called “public diplomacy” – with art, continued: “This is the reason there are so many films dealing with great relish with the Palestinian victim – uprooting of trees...discrimination and so on. But there are very few Israeli films dealing with the Israeli victim.

As “The Gatekeepers” director Dror Moreh is fond of saying, the power of his Oscar-nominated documentary derives not only from what the subjects of the film have to say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but from who is delivering those words.

Suddenly Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is speaking about renewing negotiations with the Palestinians. Yair Lapid said that he will not join a coalition that does not renew negotiations, Tzipi Livni and Shaul Mofaz as well gave the push and Netanyahu has succumbed to the “will of the people.” Outgoing Intelligence Agencies Minister Dan Meridor of Likud says 80 percent of the people want the government to advance peace with the Palestinians.

Phone calls to the political leaders of Israel and Palestine were among John Kerry's first diplomatic duties as he bedded in to his new job as secretary of state this weekend. Kerry told Mahmoud Abbas that he was "very interested in the peace process and aware of the economic hardships of the Palestinian people", according to Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabel Abu Rdeneh.

A study due to be released on Monday is expected to take both Israel and the Palestinians - but especially the latter - to task for how they portray the other side in school textbooks. The project, conducted by researchers in the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, was funded by the U.S. State Department.

Israel's ambassador to the Czech Republic, Yaakov Levy, is envied among Israeli diplomats in other European Union countries. Compared to the stiff criticism and harsh denunciations many Israeli ambassadors face, Levy's life in Prague is paradise. Today the Czech Republic is Israel's closest friend in the EU. Indeed, it was the only one of 27 EU member states to vote against the recent Palestinian statehood initiative at the United Nations.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called upon Palestinians on Saturday to boycott Israeli products, as a response to the Netanyahu government’s decision not to transfer to the PA the taxes and customs duties it is due to receive.