“Let it snow!” When Israeli news broadcast started with the weather report.

A storm bashed Israel in recent days, but it was rather welcome, strangely enough, since the media in Israel usually begins with some kind of national security or economic problem, rarely with reports about a downfall of rain and snow. Snow hardly visits the parched areas in Israel, and lasts for a short time when it does.
Perhaps the same could be said about real opportunities for peace in the Middle East.
This type of outdoor event tends to make Israelis feel that their turbulent state is like any other normal country, concerned primarily with mundane issues such as the weather, for while in the United States, for example, it rains or snows, Israel’s sky quite often rains missiles.
Snow in Israel making the landscape similar to that of New England may create a momentary illusion for Israelis living on the East Coast in the United States making them feel they are at home…
Many Israelis were pleased with the intense precipitation, since the heavy rains increased the level of the sea of the Galilee, a fancy name for a mere lake. Although the storm did not bring Israelis together and certainly did not unite them considering the upcoming general elections, less than two weeks away, the storm was a common experience. Unfortunately, Israelis usually get this kind of bonding when one of the many crises in the Middle East occurs such as wars, and those are caused by man and not by nature.
Regularly when there is a storm in Israel it has to do with the Arab neighbors and actually the last one had also involved them. Nature has no boundaries such as the “green line” (the old border of 1967 between Israel and Arab states). Several nations in the region whether they like it or not, went through this storm together. Although they all handled it alone, there were signs of cooperation. Israelis and Palestinians sometimes joined forces to rescue people who got into trouble. Human nature at its best beat nature.
Presently the storm is history, but the ongoing Arab – Israeli conflict continues as usual. It is just “another day in the office” i.e. a stalemate in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Whose nature should we blame for that?
Unfortunately there are more storms rising in the near future, just as unpredictable as weather forecasting, and just as tough to estimate if and how they develop. It is not only about Israel and the Palestinians, but it is connected to them. The Arab turmoil created uncertainty between Israel and Egypt, following the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) there. The Hashemite kingdom might be destabilized and the MB there could seize power over Jordan, which in the worst case could collapse into civil war, as in Syria. Hence there are several storms on the Israeli horizon which Israel can do little to prevent. It can only prepare itself in order to protect her population.