Israel evacuated its Cairo embassy early Saturday morning after groups of Egyptian protestors—breaking off from a peaceful demonstration in Tahrir Square—broke into the building. Two people died in the clashes and as many as 1,200 were injured.

There's a bit of an art world brouhaha unfolding right now, and, not surprisingly, Banksy is at its center. The controversy surrounds works created at the tail end of 2007, during a project called Bethlehem Santa's Ghetto in which the famed, anonymous graffiti artist left his mark upon several public surfaces in the West Bank.

Israel blocked around 200 pro-Palestinian activists from boarding European flights to the country, aided by Facebook. It's hard to pretend to be a tourist in the era of social networking.

Apple is becoming a major diplomatic player. The company agreed to remove an iPhone app devoted to Palestinian insurrection, eliciting praise for "swift action" from Israel's public diplomacy minister. This sort of app removal is going to get tricky.

Syrian state news reports 25 protestors killed by Israeli troops during an attempt to cross the border. Last month, 12 died in similar protests; now, as then, Syria will use the deaths to distract from its own brutal crackdowns. [CNN]

While Barack Obama was sharing fine teas and cakes with the Queen of England and Kate Middleton in London today, hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu swooped himself into a long, colorful address to a joint session of Congress. Everyone loved the guy, especially Republicans! Is there any sort of waiver or whatever that they can give him to run for the U.S. presidency? Some would hope.

Fading television star Glenn Beck will force what remains of his elderly lawn army to walk their fold-up chairs to Israel this summer for the sequel to last year's boring "Restoring Honor" rally.

An Israeli couple has named their newborn daughter "Like." It's unclear if Facebook was the direct inspiration for their choice, given that the father doesn't really use Facebook. But, still, pretty cruel!

The historic Bieber-Bibi Summit—in which Canadian and Israeli dreamboats Justin Bieber and Benjamin Netanyahu were to meet over danishes to discuss hair products and the Middle East—is over before it even began. But just who failed to be the mensch in this situation is still up for debate.

Justin Bieber touched down in Israel today, and is scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv on Thursday night. But some time in the days in-between, he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet. The historic Bieber-Bibi Summit will cover matters such as the recent violence in Gaza, the reform spreading through the Middle East, and whether Justin prefers boxers of briefs.

Who wants to read ancient books made of metal? Scientists, that's who! And some of them are very excited to get their hands on these particular ancient metal books, which might "be more significant than the Dead Sea Scrolls."

The Sarah Palin 2011 World Tour has invaded Israel, America's strongest ally in the Middle East. This jaunt follows an upscale shopping mall trip to India earlier in weekend. It's all coming together, folks! Let's see how Sarah Palin has been enjoying her time in the Holy Land.

Iran's grandmaster of chess, 28-year-old Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, claims to have broken the Guinness world record for simultaneous games yesterday in Tehran, according to AFP. Maghami faced 614 opponents in just over 25 hours — winning 590, or 96 percent of the games. He also paced around the tables for a total of 34 miles.

Last year's raid on a flotilla of ships headed to Gaza was found to be legal by an Israeli inquiry.

Journalists invited to a party hosted by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were forced to undergo an intensive strip search Thursday, taking off pants, shirts and bras. Now the Israeli Press office says sorry for the stripping.

Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav was convicted of rape and sexual assault in a Tel Aviv court today.

Watch out, England and Israel: It appears as though our most notorious American grifter, Sarah Palin, is heading your way in the new year. At the very least, lock up your good jewelry.

The Israeli Army has a new plan for catching draft dodgers who claim to be Orthodox Jews to get out of compulsory military service: Check Facebook and see if they're going out on Friday nights.

Today, an interview of Helen Thomas by an Ohio radio station hit the air. In it, Thomas reaffirmed her criticism of Israel, blasted Ari Fleisher, and broke down when she found out that President Obama had criticized her. Highlights inside.

It sounds shadier than it is, but the facts are these: The nation of Israel has finally secured the @israel Twitter account from a Spanish citizen living in Miami, a man who also happens to own a porn site.