Bars located minutes away from Christian, Islamic and Jewish holy sites featured bands that blared everything from grunge to acid jazz. University students and just plain kids packed streets that buzzed until dawn. Since October, Jerusalem's downtown has been largely dead. Israel's mini-war with the Palestinians has reached this city as well as much of the country. Bars have closed down.
People are no longer in the mood to party.
The dip in morale can be seen throughout the country. Tel Aviv had a far more active night life. Little remains of this today. The Israeli election on Tuesday is not about a peace agreement with the Palestinians. It is a search for a leadership that will pull the Jewish state out of its depression and provide direction amid threats of regional war and Arab insurgency.