28 February 2008: Weather causes a storm

An Israeli man has caused a storm by querying why his home is not covered by Israeli TV weather maps.

In a letter to the Israel Broadcasting Authority the man asked why national TV weather forecasts did not include Jewish enclaves in the occupied West Bank, such as the one in which he lives.

The IBA replied that the areas in question were excluded because they are (and I quote) "not part of the state of Israel".

Whether the territories,occupied by Israel in 1967, are legitimately part of Israel is at the heart of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

However, the IBA back-pedalled quickly onto safer ground. It issued an open letter stating that it omitted Jewish settlements purely because they were too small to warrant a separate mention.

The settler who made the complaint claims he was not trying to make a political point and simply wanted to know his local weather forecast.