Temperatures rise over weather query

By Rebecca Harrison

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Jewish settler's query about the weather has raised a small storm in Israel around the charged issues of land and identity.

The settler wrote to the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), to ask why its national Channel 1 television did not include Jewish enclaves in the occupied West Bank in its weather forecasts. Palestinian cities also are not mentioned.

The IBA said its ombudsman, Elisha Spiegelman, replied that Judea and Samaria -- the names used by some Jews for the West Bank -- "are not part of the state of Israel" and so were not cited in national TV weather reports.

The incident, reported in the Israeli media, illustrated how a seemingly innocuous subject can spark heated debate about the 60-year-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, who want to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Spiegelman told the Jerusalem Post he believed he was citing IBA policy, but the broadcaster swiftly rejected the comments and its director general issued an open letter saying there was no need to involve politics in weather reports.

The IBA said it omitted Jewish settlements purely because they were too small to warrant a separate mention -- a reason also cited by Spiegelman.

Radio weather forecasts in Israel cover settlements and graphics used on television include the West Bank, which was occupied by Israel in 1967.

Yossi Sternhal, the settler who made the complaint, told Israeli Army Radio he was simply seeking more comprehensive weather reports and had no intention of provoking a political row.

The iconic Monopoly board game was dragged into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when makers Hasbro Inc. listed "Jerusalem, Israel" in an online contest to select names for a new global edition, according to media reports.

Pro-Palestinian groups, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent Palestine, complained, and an employee eliminated the word "Israel." That in turn drew objections and the company eventually dropped all country names from the list.

(Additional reporting by Avida Landau; Editing by Ralph Boulton)