Adi Koll, a relatively unknown Knesset member from Yair Lapid’s centrist Yesh Atid party, posted this picture along with an uncharacteristically long and emotional status on Facebook, the day after she paid a visit to the home of a Palestinian friend in Ramallah. (Translated in full below) Warning! This post will be long, controversial and without color photos, even though I have plenty of photos. I made sure to take pictures throughout the day with the intention posting them to Facebook so I can show what we would all rather forget. But now it feels pointless. No picture can describe…

The 'Prisoner X' affair was sensitive enough for Israel to use all of its censorship tools at once: the military censor, gag orders and the 'editors committee.' But was the effort by the Prime Minister's Office entirely about national security, or did it have to do with protecting those responsible for the mess? And what should the affair teach us about the ability to keep information from the public in this technological age? The affair known as the death of "Prisoner X" is becoming an interesting test case for the effect of new media on state secrets and the relations between…

It’s one thing to have a cold relationship between Netanyahu and Obama, but I really don’t think Israel should get on J-Lo’s bad side. Unfortunately, this might happen. A few weeks ago I watched the third episode of the Israeli version of "The Voice" featuring a contestant from Los Angeles, an Israeli called Michael Alhadif, whose stage name is Michael Jade. Now, apparently Jade has been on American Idol, and even got so far as the top 40 (wow!). Personally, I don’t know how he got so far - but I digress. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2t_Ltq0bd0 In an interview segment that was shown…

In an act of protest one can only find in the world of social media, activists open a Facebook page where Israelis are urged to 'hand over' their voting rights to Palestinians. Every once in a while, social media shows you what an amazing tool it can be. On December 26, 2012, a new Facebook page was created, called "Real Democracy." The basic idea behind it is that Israelis "give up" their vote in the upcoming elections to any of the millions of Palestinians under Israeli rule who have no right to vote. It's all done on Facebook. The Israeli…

Prime Minister's Netanyahu's announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was also posted on his official Facebook page, received this evening an uncharacteristic number of angry comments by citizens demanding the government continue the assault on Gaza, among them: "Puppet for the U.S."; "You have surrendered to terrorism, shame!"; and so on. The Israeli media has been in "war mode" in the last few days, extensively covering the preparation for what seemed to be an inevitable ground invasion, with some commentators sounding like cheerleaders for the army. The somber tone of the last day – despite the attack on a…

You may have heard about the massive cyber-war against the Reddit group "Creepshot", which featured users sharing surreptitiously taken pictures of women's cleavages, upskirts etc. The war hit the headlines when one of the thread's contributors was revealed to be a school teacher taking pictures of his own students in class. It seems now that some of its denizens have found a new home - Facebook. Yesterday, a Facebook page titled "Creepshots" posted a photo of a woman in a short skirt with the caption "begging to be raped": Although almost all 45 comments (at time of writing) were negative…

An infographic purportedly depicting Palestinian attacks in the West Bank makes its case with a photo shot during a Bahrain protest. This would not be the first time the army posted misleading photographs to Facebook to serve its PR machine. By Mati Milstein On October 17, the Israeli military posted the above infographic on its Facebook page. The image includes a photograph of a young masked man holding a firebomb and featuring statistics regarding the number of firebomb attacks against Israelis in the West Bank since the start of 2012. The Israeli military urges Facebook users to share the image…

Three months ago, Interior Minister Eli Yishai deported several hundred families from Israel to South Sudan, despite unequivocal statements by human rights group that mere fact of the established state is far from the offering the safety that would allow for these families' return; the request was at least to extend the group exemption from deportation - Israel's mechanism of neither denying nor granting asylum - a few months longer. Even that demand was ignored. The deportees' baggage, all 14 tons of it, was delayed for two months and kept at a warehouse in Israel, simply because the state felt…

American Express, one of the biggest credit card companies in the world, is obviously not using its money that well. Otherwise, how could you explain them hiring the ad agency that made the ad below. Three pictures, one on top of the other, of hummus, swimming in the Dead Sea, and army boots, and one question splashed across it that asks Facebook readers: “What is an Israeli moment for you?” Let’s just say, none of the comments left on the site were probably what the advertisers had in mind. If I had the time and money, I’d translate as much as I…

Remember a few weeks ago when I sent a friendship request to Hagai Amir, the brother of Rabin’s assassin Yigal Amir, on Facebook? Here’s what I wrote about it back then. Well, a few days later he accepted and we’ve been pals ever since. OK, not really. We haven’t spoken. Was never inclined to. But last night something happened. I posted a small photo album of pictures I took the night before. They were from the anti-war-with-Iran demonstration under Ehud Barak’s luxury apartment in central Tel Aviv. Not long after I posted the album, Hagai Amir left a comment on…

The comic artist Mysh is one of my favorites in Israel. His work is not only conscious and critical, but also brilliantly drawn and at times, extremely funny. Last year I posted here his "Israeli Machine" video, which captured the hope I saw in the J14 movement more than any 1000-word essay I have written on this issue. Mysh's drawings have since turned more critical and dark, reflecting the change in the national mood as the summer of hope turned into an Israeli winter. Yet some of those recent works have been incredibly popular on Facebook, shared and liked by…

Earlier this morning, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted this uncharacteristically laconic message: The smug announcement was further drilled home by a press release from the Prime Minister's Office, which gushed at the prime minister surpassing the 200,000 "likes" bar, noted opponents trail "far behind" and crowned the prime minister's Facebook page as an instrument "linking the people and the leader." The website of Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich (with a self-confessedly humble 20,000 plus '"likes") quickly shot back with the following observation from the head of its Internet volunteer teams, Amichai Saragovi: Some time ago us in the…

Following a growing number of online grassroots peace initiatives, activists are calling for the first significant demonstration against the sounding war drums. First came the Iranian women, with a series of video clips made especially for International Women's Day, speaking out against war from a feminist perspective. Then came the Israeli reply, with the Coalition of Women for Peace publishing a declaration stating they "oppose the inflammatory rhetoric of war mongers and the recently advertised plan of the Israeli government to attack Iran. Such an assault is not likely to stop the Iranian nuclear plan, but is likely to lead…