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Ethan Bronner is a correspondent for our partner The New York Times. He recently announced that he would transition from his role as the paper's Jerusalem Bureau Chief to become a national legal correspondent in New York. The Middle East has changed radically since Bronner accepted the Bureau Chief position in early 2008. Perhaps most visible are the results of the Arab Spring uprisings throughout the region. Bronner reflects on the immense changes in the Middle East since he started reporting there four years ago.

The prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel may be good news for an American man who has been detained in Egypt since June. Ilan Grapel, a 27-year-old law student from Queens, New York, who is also an Israeli citizen, was accused by Egypt of being a spy for Israel. Grapel's family have denied he has any links to espionage. Ethan Bronner, who reported on the story for The New York Times, has the latest on Grapel's expected release.

Israeli Sgt. Gilad Shalit was released by Hamas today in exchange for 477 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, reports on the latest.

Egyptian protesters surrounded Israel's embassy in Cairo on Saturday, prompting Israel to deploy military jets to rescue their diplomats there. A clash between police and demonstrators ensued. The protests were in response to Israel's military killing five Egyptian policemen on the Gaza border last month, as Israeli forces pursued militants who had killed eight Israelis.

A confluence of economic crises plaguing the Palestinian Authority are threatening to derail a number of efforts to unify and legitimize the emerging state. State employees have seen their salaries halved in recent weeks as the Palestinian government has struggled to pay its bills. Palestinian banks are refusing to loan the state any more money, and aid from Arab nations has dried up. Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times, reported on this story for today's paper.

The leaders of the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, have signed a unity deal in Cairo this morning, ending four years of hostilities. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Cairo, the Palestinian president and head of the Fatah party, Mahmoud Abbas, said that Palestinians had turned "the dark page of division." Many are hopeful that this will help lead to peace in the region. The New York Times Ethan Bronner reports from Cairo on the agreement. 

Protesters gathered Cairo's Tahrir Square once again on Saturday to demand that the Egyptian military open an investigation into former president Hosni Mubarak's abuses. Mubarak responded to charges of corruption in a radio address on Sunday, the first time he's addressed the country since being forced from power in February. How have Egyptians responded to Mubarak's claims of innocence? What does this mean for the future of Egypt?

Thursday morning, two major opposition leaders and several others were jailed in Bahrain. "The whole idea that there was going to be a dialogue between the government and those seeking reform seems to have gone by the wayside," says The New York Times' Ethan Bronner, who is covering the story from Manama.

As Egypt changes, the country's relationship with Israel becomes fragile. With President Hosni Mubarak pledging not to seek re-election in September, Israeli leaders are worried Egypt could fall into the hands of radical Islamic groups. This includes a fear that the Muslim Brotherhood may emerge as the leadership in the country.

The United States is backing away from peace talks on the Middle East that are in flux, thanks in part to Israel's refusal to back down on the issue of new Jewish settlements. Palestinians are saying that direct talks may be over for the time being, and the U.S., after high hopes for progress, is suffering a tarnished record as a negotiator. Has the cause for peace hit another dead end? 

The U.S. is scrambling to keep the Palestinians and Israelis talking this morning since Israel's moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank expired on Sunday night. The United Nations, along with the French, British, and American governments have all called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put a stop to the construction. 

Also drawing international attention this morning, Israel's military took control of a boat carrying nine Jewish activists attempting to breach the naval block of Gaza. The incident comes four months after the Israeli military killed nine Turkish activists during a raid on a flotilla also attempting to break the blockade.

For the latest from Israel, we're joined by New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner.

Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief for the New York Times, discusses his reporting on tax-exempt aid funding West Bank settlements and the news coming out of President Obama's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Dealing with Iran will be the top priority for U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates as he meets with Israeli leaders today in Jerusalem. Gates is part of a steady stream of high profile U.S. visitors to Israel this week including Middle East Envoy George Mitchell and National Security Advisor Jim Jones. To talk about what's on the table this week is New York Times Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Ethan Bronner, and Judith Kipper, Director of Middle East Programs at the Institute of World Affairs in Washington, D.C.

In President Obama's speech at Cairo University, he made it clear that U.S. and Israel have an "unbreakable" bond. He explained how the Holocaust continues to shape Israeli reactions to threats from the Arab world and to anti-Semitism around the world. But he also said it was undeniable that the Palestinian people – Muslims and Christians – have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For reactions to this portion of the President's speech we turn to Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem Bureau Chief of the New York Times. We also have Professor Peter Awn, director of the Middle East studies program at Columbia University and Noah Feldman, professor of law at Harvard and author of The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Council on Foreign Relations) .

As Israel prepares to inaugurate a new right-wing government, it is facing its worst diplomatic crisis in two decades. Its actions in Gaza and its election of a right-wing government have led to an increasing sense of global isolation as many countries turn a cold shoulder to the nation. Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the New York Times, joins us for a look at Israel's plans for global PR.

For more, read Ethan Bronner's article, After Gaza, Israel Grapples With Crisis of Isolation, in today's New York Times.

Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the conservative Likud Party, will form the next Israeli government. This announcement comes after inconclusive election results failed to select a leader. Immediately after his leadership was confirmed, Mr. Netanyahu launched an appeal to adversaries to overcome their differences and form a government of national unity to meet “huge challenges” including what he termed Iran’s development of nuclear weapons and its sponsorship of “terrorism” in Lebanon and Gaza. For more we turn to Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief for the New York Times.

Israelis are heading to the polls today in an election that only a few weeks ago seemed a decisive win for former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, it's too close to call, but Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of the Kadima party looks like the likely winner. For more on what Livni's win could mean, we turn to Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief for our partner the New York Times.

For more of the New York Times coverage of the vote in Israel, read Isabel Kershner's article, Israelis Vote in Volatile Contest for New Leader in today's paper.

As the Israeli ground offensive continues in Gaza, the international foreign press is waging a war of their own. Ethan Bronner, the Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the New York Times, and a pool of foreign press reporters have been consistently denied access to Gaza by the Israeli troops guarding the border. The reporters finally went to the Israeli Supreme Court for the rights to report from Gaza and the Supreme Court agreed that Israel must grant access to the foreign press corps. Yet each day the pool of reporters heads to the border to try and gain access and each day they are turned away. Ethan Bronner joins us now.

Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza this weekend and started house-by-house fighting. Meanwhile diplomatic efforts by the global community have stepped up and French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders today. Ethan Bronner is the Jerusalem bureau chief for our partner, the New York Times, and he joins us from from the road to Gaza where he is fixing a flat tire.

In the fourth day of violence along the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israel each claim wins and losses. The Israeli military is continuing its campaign of air strikes against targets in Gaza. A Gaza official puts the Palestinian death toll at more than 360 with 1400 wounded. Rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli cities killed four people yesterday. Meanwhile, the international community, led by the United Nations, calls for an immediate ceasefire as civilian casualties mount up in the densely-populated region. From the protests in Syria to the pleas from the United Nations, Ethan Bronner, Jerusalem bureau chief with at the New York Times, and Jim Muir, the Beirut bureau chief for the BBC, give us a road map to the global reaction to the ongoing strife.