A strange spike in traffic at "on the face" was traced to this article on the Hebrew daily Ma'ariv's Web site.

I'll avoid the blow-by-blow translation, since it's late and I'm far too lazy, and just give you the general idea. It seems that last month a columnist for Ma'ariv wrote an article complaining that there are no good Israeli blogs, the kind that discuss politics and society instead of "pee pee and kaki." In response, Hanan Cohen wrote the piece I linked to. According to Cohen, the best Israeli blogs are written in English. True, he admits, it's not so easy for Hebrew speakers to read in English, but "Anglo Saxon" blogs frequently offer "surprises and wisdom." He explains that all of the bloggers have blogrolls, so it's easy to click through to lots more surprising and wise Anglo-Israeli writers.

The blogs specifically mentioned - and summarized - in the article are:

Moi (duh) (Quote: "I'm not sure what she does for a living, but she seems to move around this area a lot so maybe she's a journalist.")

Dutchblog Israel (Quote: "Writes in English and Dutch. It seems that most of his readers are Dutch, and he feels the need to explain 'what's going on here' to them.")

Balagan (Quote: "A week ago she got stopped at the Knesset, where she works, because she was wearing orange shoes. The security guards thought she was making an anti-disengagement statement. She is pro-disengagement.")

The View From Here (Quote: "Harry and Ziva are a young couple who live in Modi'in. They have a sense of humour, and they have a weekly podcast!")

Orthodox Anarchist (Quote: "Ever heard of an Orthodox anarchist? There's one living in Jerusalem, and based on his blog he's a super cool dude.")

Ari Lives in Israel (Quote: "A leftist asshole. (the kind I like).")

Five Years Later (Quote: "She shares very personal feelings that make me...feel alternately like a participant and a voyeur.")

Israelity (Quote: "A group blog that describes life in Israel and tries to avoid politics. Lovely writing.")

I have to admit, I'm pretty chuffed.