Israel at 60: Life Beyond the Headlines

By the Hebrew calendar, today marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel in 1948. And Israel has been celebrating, with picnics and parties and warplanes on display.

Of course, Arabs call the events of 1948 the "naqba" — or catastrophe.

But it's Israel's birthday. We'll observe today with one of the hottest writers of a new generation of Israeli writers, Etgar Keret.

And with an American-Jewish resident of the U.S. and Jerusalem, Bernard Avishai, who says it's time for the Jewish state to become what he calls the "Hebrew Republic."

This hour, On Point: Israel turns sixty.Guests:

Bernard Avishai, consulting editor at the Harvard Business Review, former professor at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, and author of the new book "The Hebrew Republic: How Secular Democracy and Global Enterprise Will Bring Israel Peace at Last"

Etgar Keret, author of the story collection "The Girl on the Fridge" and director of the award-winning film "Jellyfish."