Jo-Ann Mort

The war between Israel and Hezbollah raised serious questions about Israel’s military preparedness and strategy. Calls for the resignation of the military chief of staff, Dan Halutz, abound. It’s likely that the Israeli military will clean up its act quickly (although perhaps with a new chief of staff) since there’s nearly universal agreement in Israel […]

What a difference a war makes. The Bush administration, long dismissive of multilateral diplomatic moves, especially with “Old Europe,” worked closely with France to bring a diplomatic resolution to the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Now, it looks like these efforts may pay off, with an initial agreement at the U.N. for the U.S.-French sponsored […]

Tel Aviv, Israel — It’s often said, and sometimes not in the kindest of ways, that the United States looks out for Israel’s interests rather than its own. But the current crisis in the Middle East is demonstrating that, sometimes, the opposite is true. In this case, Israel’s interests are being subjugated to the Bush […]

The trip from Jerusalem to Ramallah used to take around 20 minutes. But ever since the roadblocks, checkpoints, and cement wall barrier went up following the Second Intifada several years ago, it can take hours, depending on who you are. For Jewish settlers and those with U.S. passports or some NGO (nongovernmental organization) cards, there […]

Early last week, I visited friends in Haifa, Israel’s third largest city. Their apartment is at the top of the Carmel, a mountain that leads to the University of Haifa. From their living room I looked out over Haifa’s port to the mountains of Lebanon and thought about the beauty of that area along the […]

Jerusalem — As the annual Jerusalem Film Festival opened on Thursday, several thousand people sat under the stars in the Sultan’s Pool, a valley just outside of Jerusalem’s Old City walls, to watch the opening film on a gigantic screen. Fireworks, kosher hot dogs, beer and rock music adorned the scene. It was the first […]

Amir Peretz, the new chairman of the Labor Party, is a progressive populist — but he may be George W. Bush’s best hope. Peretz, who won a surprise, cliffhanger victory over incumbent chairman Shimon Peres last week, is a trade unionist in his gut. He is a masterful negotiator who has pledged that, if he […]

Road maps aren’t always much help traveling to — and through — the West Bank, unless you can unlock the coding that will lead you in the proper direction. Driving on the main highway between Tel Aviv and the large settlement of Ariel, an unknowing driver could become confused. There’s a fork in the highway […]

On a recent afternoon in Berlin, where I went to write an article about an exhibit of Israeli art at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder maneuvered a vote of no confidence to try to dissolve the government. So I was curious to know what my taxi driver thought about the political situation, and we talked […]