I really don't understand why the Israeli government is suddenly giving 70 million NIS to the PA.

The economy here is in a rut, and there's a lot of controversy about social services and defense cuts in the new budget. On the channel 2 news I keep hearing sad stories of hungry or homeless families - can any Israeli readers suggest particularly worthwhile charities?

Israeli cable systems are replacing CNN with FoxNews. That's unfortunate only because CNN was a good way for Israelis to get a sense of what the world at large thinks about what's happening here. The BBC will still be carried.

In yesterday's Palestinian knife attack on a husband and wife in Itamar, it was the wife who managed to wrest one of the blades from the attacker and kill him (not a guard as reported initially). Before they were gunned down at close range by Fatah yesterday, the Odesser brothers would regularly enter Jamain to sell diesel fuel. They were drinking coffee with Arab friends when they were shot.

Give the security forces some recognition for keeping a lid on some tense situations in the West Bank yesterday.