In the Torah, God promises numerous times that the Land of Israel will be blessed with an abundance of grapes well-suited for winemaking, and in modern times the country has again become the source of many fine vintages. Scientists have recently found evidence that some of these modern grapes are direct descendants of ancient local cultivars. Judy Siegel-Itzkovich writes:

Seeds that provide a genetic link between two modern varieties of red and white grapes cultivated over 1,100 years ago—and apparently were mentioned in two different books of the Bible—have resulted in an “extraordinary and thrilling discovery” by archaeologists at Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the University of Haifa.

“One ancient seed was found to belong to the Syriki variety, still used to make high-quality red wine in Greece and Lebanon. Since winegrapes are usually named after their place of origin, it is quite possible that the name Syriki is derived from Nahal Sorek, an important stream in the Judean Hills. A second seed was identified as related to the Be’er variety of white winegrapes still growing in the sands of Palmachim on the Mediterranean seashore.”

[In recent years, archaeologists found] a large hoard of grape seeds, discovered on the floor of a sealed room at Avdat, [an ancient city in the Negev]. The researchers explain that these seeds have been relatively well-preserved thanks to protection from climatic phenomena such as extreme temperatures, flooding, or dehydration. In the hope of discovering which varieties the seeds might belong to, the researchers prepared to extract their DNA in the paleogenetic lab. . . .

Finally, the two samples of the highest quality, both from around 900 CE, were identified as belonging to specific local varieties that still exist today. . . . For the first time ever, the researchers were able to use the genome of a grape seed to determine the color of the fruit, discovering that it was in fact a white grape—the oldest botanical specimen of a white variety ever identified.

When he called upon Hamas to end the war and release the hostages last week, the Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was also getting ready for a reshuffle within his regime. On Saturday, he appointed Hussein al-Sheikh deputy president of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which is intimately tied to the PA itself. Al-Sheikh would therefore succeed Abbas—who is eighty-nine and reportedly in ill health—as head of the PLO if he should die or become incapacitated, and be positioned to succeed him as head of the PA as well.

Al-Sheikh spent eleven years in an Israeli prison and, writes Maurice Hirsch, was involved in planning a 2002 Jerusalem suicide bombing that killed three. Moreover, Hirsch writes, he “does not enjoy broad Palestinian popularity or support.”

Still, by appointing Al-Sheikh, Abbas has taken a step in the internal reforms he inaugurated last year in the hope that he could prove to the Biden administration and other relevant players that the PA was up to the task of governing the Gaza Strip. Neomi Neumann writes:

Abbas’s motivation for reform also appears rooted in the need to meet the expectations of Arab and European donors without compromising his authority. On April 14, the EU foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas approved a three-year aid package worth 1.6 billion euros, including 620 million euros in direct budget support tied to reforms. Meanwhile, the French president Emmanuel Macron held a call with Abbas [earlier this month] and noted afterward that reforms are essential for the PA to be seen as a viable governing authority for Gaza—a telling remark given reports that Paris may soon recognize “the state of Palestine.”

In some cases, reforms appear targeted at specific regional partners. The idea of appointing a vice-president originated with Saudi Arabia.

In the near term, Abbas’s main goal appears to be preserving Arab and European support ahead of a major international conference in New York this June.