Beginning Wednesday night, September 18th, the Jewish holiday of Sukkot begins.

During the week-long holiday, Jews build a special kind of home to dwell in for the week, called a sukkah. The sukkah is a deliberately temporary house, which can have no more than one permanent wall, and whose roof must be open to the sky, covered only partially by natural materials such as branches. The sukkah is a strange sort of dwelling, and yet, it is so important, that we use it every Friday night on Shabbat, as a metaphor for peace, asking that God, "spread over us a sukkah of Your peace."

May this year's sukkah be a sukkat shalom, a sukkah of peace, and may we merit to build our house - Israel- from peace.

APN's daily news review from Israel

Tuesday September 17, 2013

Quote of the day:

"This right-wing is sitting in the government and speaking about two-states for two peoples, release Palestinians prisoners and is making diplomatic moves. This is very surprising and, of course, it is the result of the Oslo Accords."
--Yossi Beilin, an author of the interim peace agreement, says it made the right-wing more left-wing.**

This week, Alpher discusses the new Middle East reality Israel confronts as a consequence of the US-Russian deal regarding Syria's chemical weapons, what lessons and conclusions can be taken from the massive commemoration in Israel of the 40 years since the outbreak of the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria, the significance of a ruling by an Israeli judge two weeks ago concerning Palestinian incitement against Israel, and the contribution of Osama al-Baz, who died Saturday in Egypt, to peace.

APN's daily news review from Israel

Monday September 16, 2013

Quote of the day:

"It is these facts on the ground, not the guidelines, which threaten to make a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible."
--Former EU leaders - including former Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos, who is considered relatively close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - wrote a letter saying settlements harm peace and calling on the EU to stand firm on new guidelines forbidding any EU money to institutions or people linked to activities in the W. Bank, Golan Heights, or E. Jerusalem.**

APN's daily news review from Israel

Sunday September 15, 2013

Number of the day:

131.
--The dollar price of a round-trip ticket to Turkey for Israelis as Turkey tries to lure Israeli tourists back to their country.**

APN's daily news review from Israel

Friday September 13, 2013

Quote of the day:

"There is no doubt some Palestinian news outlets incite against Israel and the Jews, but it is clear this is not an official policy of the PA."
--Tel-Aviv District Court Judge Dalia Gannot completely rejects the testimony of the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, Itamar Marcus, making minced meat out of his claims.**

APN's daily news review from Israel

Thursday September 12, 2013

Quote of the day:

"This thing is being handled like some moonlighting gig."
--Speaking at a conference, Yossi Beilin slams Israel's handling of the peace talks.**

Jake Wallis Simons / The Telegraph (September 11, 2013)
In a special multimedia feature, Jake Wallis Simons takes a journey through the Israeli settlements on the West Bank and meets the inhabitants of the most controversial land on Earth. Read More >

APN's daily news review from Israel

Wednesday September 11, 2013

Number of the day:

4.5 million
--The number of shekels which the right-wing Elad organization has sued left-wing organizations, including Peace Now, in libel suits. Peace Now Secretary General Yariv Oppenheimer calls it 'legal terrorism.'**

Beginning this Friday evening and continuing through Saturday night, the holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, will be observed by Jews throughout the world.