Graybeards Pull Off Israel Election Upset

By Helen Schary Motro
Published on April 6, 2006

Israeli politics were shaken to their core by dark horse newcomers belonging to a party few had heard of. Close to a quarter of a million Israelis voted for the Pensioners Party, also known as GIL (age), a party run by nonpoliticians that didn't even exist three months ago; a party founded only after the regular political parties ignored the pleas of its constituents and relegated their demands low on the totem poll.

Tragedy or Exploitation?

By Helen Schary Motro
Published on March 1, 2001

The photograph of the Palestinian father cradling his terrified son moments before the boy was killed in Gaza this fall was viewed live on television and reproduced on the front pages of newspapers around the globe. Like the photograph of the boy with hands raised standing in the Warsaw Ghetto, nobody who saw desperate Jamal Al-Durrah vainly trying to shield 12-year-old Mohammed can ever forget the terror in their eyes.

Out to a (Matzah) Lunch

By Helen Schary Motro
Published on April 20, 2000

Passover in Israel is a blockbuster week when the country acts not only Israeli, but overwhelmingly Jewish as well. The air turns electric far in advance. Supermarkets are jammed, ringing up the highest sales all year. Matzahs are sold in packages the size of small suitcases, with people buying more than they could ever possibly need. Thirty million dollars are expected in wine sales alone.

Indicting Inappropriate Behavior

By Helen Schary Motro
Published on April 20, 2000

Sexual harassment hit the Israeli headlines with a jolt this week when police recommended that Transportation Minister Yitzhak Mordechai be charged with three counts of sexual assault.