Israel is a strange place unlike any other place I have visited.  Locked in between hostile desert nations and four seas, it creates its own karma.  Everyone has a story here.  The modern history of Israel is tragic and brave and unresolvable at press time! The people are in siege mentality and you feel it.  It’s not that they are unresponsive.  Everything works really well.  The beach looks like Rio de Janeiro, but has no crime, and the market is old world charming.  The troubles here are “untroubling.”  Most locals put it down to rain.  Yes, we have some problems just like we have occasional rain but it never lasts too long and eventually it dries up.