A thriving industry allows West Bank residents to get past what Israelis call a security barrier. It has a dangerous side effect: Attackers sneak through as well.

Soldiers shoot dead 15-year old Palestinian bystander after stone-hurling incident near West Bank village of Beit Sira.

Religious tension is nothing new in a city that has been the home of three faiths for centuries. But the outlook for the Christian minority, squeezed inside the ancient walls of the Old City and caught in the midst of a months-long wave of violence involving Muslims targeting Jews, has seldom looked tougher.

“Palestinians are elaborating creative ideas to solve the complex issue of the right of return so that a two-state solution can be reached,” writes Uri Savir.

Baratz’s appointment has been held up since November, after it became known he referred to US President Barack Obama’s angry response to Netanyahu’s speech to Congress as “modern anti-Semitism.”

The anti-terror law passed through Israel’s Knesset last week without one of its scariest pieces, the normalization of administrative detention, which remains dependent on the country’s 67-year-old self-declared state of emergency.

MK Nissan Slomiansky breaks with Habayit Hayehudi, rejects demand for NGOs to identify donors in court petitions, and for staff to wear name tags; opposition MKs slam anti-leftist slant of bill.