But for 30 years, Orthodox leaders have tipped the balance between hawks and doves, and have been in a position to determine who forms a coalition and who runs the country.

Literature exists inside the language. It's made of words.

If people are pro-Israel, they are pro-Israel one-hundred-and-twenty percent. If they are anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian, they tend to be pro-Palestinian one-hundred-and-twenty percent.

Universally, not only in Israel, people want to feel good about themselves. We all want to feel good to some extent.

In my essays and articles I have been saying again and again that the case of Israel and Palestine, the case of Israel and the Arab world, and indeed the case of Israel and Europe, is not black and white. It's not a western movie.

I prefer to talk about the gift of literature rather than its role or task.

We lived through a relatively golden age between the end of World War II and Sept. 11, 2001.