Last fall, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas engaged in peace talks for the first time in seven years and met in Annapolis, Maryland with high level representatives from a diverse array of countries to inaugurate peace negotiations. The framework they agreed upon includes final status talks aimed to culminate in a peace treaty by the end of this year.

Despite the pivotal role the United Nations played in the creation of the Jewish state, the relationship between Israel and the UN has been often antagonistic. From the 1975 UN resolution equating Zionism with racism to the continuing use of the assembly as a forum for airing Arab grievances, Israel has often been on the receiving end of UN criticism.

Although there has always been tension in Israel between the religious establishment and progressive or secular Jews, it has never been as heated or intense as the current crisis between the Orthodox authorities and the progressive Jewish movements. Beginning with the "Who is a Jew?" debates in the 1980s, the issue has increasingly become more complex and emotional.

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