Snowfall shuts down Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) -- A heavy overnight snowstorm blanketed Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land in white on Wednesday, closing schools and stores and grounding public transportation.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jew and Palestinian youths walk in the streets of East Jerusalem during a snow storm, 30 January 2008.

The sense of excitement among Israelis, used to warm Middle Eastern weather, was palpable.

Children threw snowballs on slushy streets, and weather reports topped local newscasts, eclipsing an upcoming government report on the 2006 war in Lebanon that could pressure Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign.

Snow often falls in Jerusalem once or twice each winter, but temperatures rarely drop low enough for it to stick.

Schools shut, most public places closed down and many people stayed home from work.