​Center for Near East Policy Research

A few weeks ago, instead of having the usual assortment of guests around our table, my family and I chose to spend Shabbat with a special Jerusalem couple who serve the homeless and the hungry. For our family, this was a unique experience, rich with unforgettable details, while for the unfortunate people with whom we shared our meals, this was a way of life.

On January 14, 1997, at 12:00 noon, as the Israeli cabinet gathered in Jerusalem to begin its deliberations on the approval of the Oslo accords, something else occurred in Ramat Dania, a neighborhood that is only walking distance from the Israeli Knesset.