Bethlehem, a place of Christian pilgrimage for centuries, will soon be encircled by Israel's security barrier. Is the town to become no more than a museum among ancient shrines? John Harris meets the people campaigning to keep it alive

Saturday November 5, 2005, The Guardian

Senior officials in the U.S. Catholic Church are "following with interest" the meeting that took place between President Moshe Katsav and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Thursday.

The officials knew Katsav would raise the issue of the unfinished negotiations between Israel and the Holy See on the status of Church assets in the Holy Land. The American Church officials wish to learn whether they will be required to once more intervene in the negotiations in order to get the desired results.

This long and involved story can be summarized very briefly: Since establishing diplomatic ties some 12 years ago, Israel and the Vatican have been unable to tie up the few loose ends in their agreements, which have lasted so long primarily because of foot-dragging by successive Israeli governments.

Shmuel Rosner, Chief U.S. Correspondent, Haaretz, Nov 17, 2005

The Israeli media is busy trying to understand the weird relation between certain Israeli Parliament Members and some Evangelical leaders. Here is another report by Lili Galili from Haaretz.

"Contrary to the contention that "Bibi is good for the Jews," which has yet to be definitively proven, it is already clear that the Christians are good for Bibi − Benjamin Netanyahu. Last Monday, at the height of the drama over the appointment of new Likud ministers, Netanyahu found a few minutes to go to the lecture hall at the Knesset to meet with the evangelical preacher John Hagee at an event organized by "the parliamentary lobby for relations with Christians."

By Lily Galili, Haaretz, Nov 11, 2005

Egypt's beleaguered Christian Coptic minority is to launch its own satellite television this month, but even some Copts fear the church's patronage of the channel will fan sectarian strife. In the aftermath of deadly riots in Alexandria on October 21 religious Copts see the creation of the channel as an essential tool to assert their repressed identity.

By Agence France Presse (AFP), Nov 3, 2005

A mosaic and the remains of a building uncovered recently in excavations on the Megiddo prison grounds may belong to the earliest church in the world, according to a preliminary examination by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

One of the most dramatic finds suggests that, instead of an altar, a simple table stood in the center of the church, at which a sacred meal was held to commemorate the Last Supper.

Photographs of three Greek inscriptions in the mosaic were sent to Hebrew University expert Professor Leah Di Segni, who told Haaretz on Sunday that the use of the term "table" in one of them instead of the word "altar" might lead to a breakthrough in the study of ancient Christianity. It is commonly believed that church rituals based on the Last Supper took place around an altar.

By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz, Nov 6, 2005

After more than 30 years of organising testimonial dinners for right-wing Israeli politicians, handing out checks to Israeli charities, and forming alliances with conservative Jewish leaders and groups, evangelical Christians may finally be getting a chunk of the "Promised Land".

In a move geared toward solving northern Israel's unemployment crisis, increasing tourism to the country, and solidifying relations with U.S. evangelical Christians, the Israeli government has offered 35 acres of land on the shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) for development by Christian evangelicals.

Bill Berkowitz, IPS News, Oct 3, 2005

One of the most popular writers in Israel writes a sarcastic column about the strange relationship between few Israeli Knesset members from "The lobby for promoting ties with Christian communities abroad" from one side, and some Evangelical Churches from the other.

"For evangelicals, return of Jews to Israel is only first step"

Meir Shalev, Ynet, Oct 21, 2005