Domestic concerns in Israel

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Linda Gradstein reports that Israelis are not focused on the peace process right now, but rather preoccupied by more domestic concerns such as political corruption and a series of unsolved murders.

Shimon Peres’ poetry set to music

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Israeli President Shimon Peres celebrated his 86th birthday last week. He’s been in Israeli politics for more than half a century. And it turns out that during that whole time, he’s also been writing poems, inspired by the historical events he’s witnessed first hand. That poetry has now been set to music. Daniel Estrin will have some samples later today. Photo by Itzik Biran. >>> Watch a video about Peres’ poetry set to music.

Global Hit: Shimon Peres

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Israeli President Shimon Peres celebrated his 86th birthday a week ago. He’s been in Israeli politics for more than half a century. Turns out, that whole time, he’s also been writing poems. And some of those poems have now been set to music. Daniel Estrin has today’s Global Hit.

The musical poetry of Shimon Peres

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For today’s Global Hit, a head-of-state turned lyricist. Israeli President Shimon Peres celebrated his 86th birthday last week. He’s been in Israeli politics for more than half a century. Turns out, that whole time, he’s also been writing poems, inspired by historical events he’s witnessed first hand.

Leaked Israeli memo makes waves

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Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Nadav Tamir, Israel’s Consul-General to New England, who made headlines in Israel recently when an internal memo he wrote about US-Israel relations was leaked to the media there.

Israel’s road sign debate

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Last month, Israel’s new transport minister Israel Katz proposed an overhaul to his country’s road signs. Israeli signs are trilingual: Hebrew, Arabic and English. But Katz wants to remove Arabic and English city names and replace them with transliterations of the Hebrew names. Daniel Estrin reports from Jerusalem. >>> See more photos. (Photo credit: Daniel Estrin)

Israel’s third temple movement

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Almost two thousand years ago, the second temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews in Palestine went into exile. Now some Jews in Israel today say it’s time to rebuild the temple. Problem is… they want to rebuild it on the location of Islam’s holiest site in Jerusalem. Linda Gradstein reports.

New rhetoric on Israeli settlements, an international libary of children’s books, and faux French in France

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, Israel’s government tries out some new words to describe its West Bank settlement program. We consider those, and take a look at previous rhetorical attempts to justify Israel’s expansion into Palestinian territory. Then, a conversation with the University of Arizona’s Kathy Short, who manages an ever-expanding collection of children’s books from around the world. Finally, an update on Brooklyn’s finest fake French band, Les Sans Culottes. After more than a decade together, the band is finally performing in France. Download MP3

Entire program – August 3, 2009

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Today on The World: NATO has a new commander and his top priority is Afghanistan; Also, what it’s like to be gay in Britain’s Muslim communities; And some Israelis turn to a new style of Judaism.

Possible charges for Israeli foreign minister

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Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Akiva Eldar, political columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretz, about news that Israel’s controversial foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman may be a indicted on corruption charges.

New age Judaism

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Dozens of new Jewish spiritual communities are popping up in Israel. But as Linda Gradstein reports, they’re not connected to any of the major Jewish movements.

Obama’s Middle East gambit and the US-Israeli rift over settlements

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Barack Obama wants to revive the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab states. But the US and Israel have yet to resolve a disagreement over the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. How big is the US-Israeli rift? And is Team Obama’s agenda for Mideast peace already in jeopardy?

Entire program – July 28, 2009

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Today on The World: With troops returning from Iraq, the Pentagon struggles with what to do with all the military equipment there; What some human right groups are doing to help fight discrimination against Albinos around the world; and the story behind a massive European project aimed at harnessing Africa’s solar power.

Israeli view of Obama team

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Correspondent Linda Gradstein reports on Israeli reaction to the Obama administration’s big push for regional peace talks in the Middle East.

New Jersey scandal reaches Israel

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The New Jersey corruption scandal that resulted in the arrests of several rabbis and politicians yesterday includes the illegal trade of human organs. Some of the live donors were citizens of Israel. Anchor Katy Clark finds out more from Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.