Israel is setting up satellite TV channels that will broadcast news in English and Arabic. Too bad that it's probably not feasible to broadcast a terrific Army Radio program called "The Last Word" to a global audience (it would require subtitles). Lots of people would be interested to hear what it's like when a moderate Israeli left-winger ("Avi") carries on some jocular conversation with a moderate right-winger ("Jacky"). Today they were talking about the security fence; here's a rough recollection:

Avi: [Defence Minister] Ben-Eliezer said a dozen times in the past 2 days that the fence is for security purposes only and doesn't constitute a political demarcation. This can only mean that it is a political demarcation
...
I think that's positive because it means that "Yesha [West Bank/Gaza] isn't here", Yesha is there. People will stop building new apartments there and gradually people will leave.

Jacky: You and I can debate about the settlements; whether or not they're a good idea etc. and that's a legitimate discussion. But the fact is that there are people living there who went there because they were told that they could; apartments were affordable, close to their families and jobs etc. The Palestinians now frankly say "All these people deserve to die" ... we can't simply abandon them.

....

J: Another thing about the fence is that it will prevent car theft...

A: You don't have to worry about your car getting stolen ...

J: My car will never get stolen because you would need to refuel twice to get to Kalkilya [Palestinian border town]