Israelis celebrated the Jewish New Year, grateful for the recent calm spell in the region but sceptical that the coming year would see the achievement of ever-elusive peace.
The Jewish New Year, or Rosh akoya pearl necklace Hashana, coincides this year with Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim feast marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Capping a year that saw Israel battle Hamas militants in a bloody three-week long war in Gaza, followed by elections that brought a more hawkish government to power, Israelis remained doubtful that an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was in sight.
"We hope that this year will be better, that it will be quiet, that there will be peace, but I don't believe it will happen," said Yosef Cohen, a 40-year-old merchant at Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda open-air market. "How many years have we been talking about it?"
An editorial in Haaretz newspaper was equally gloomy, "on the national level, Israel enters the holiday season without many reasons for levity or celebration," it said. "More isolated than ever on the international scene...despairing of a solution to the conflict."
However, Israel's 86-year-old china pearl jewelry president remained optimistic, "the international community is keen to support endeavours to move the peace process forward," Shimon Peres said in a holiday greeting, "and I am confident that with concerted efforts, the vision of a comprehensive peace can be realized. This will create stability, tranquillity, security and prosperity for our children and their children after them."
Defence Minister Ehud Barak took a middle course, "I am in favour of sober optimism," he told the Yediot Ahronot daily.
Rosh Hashana, which begins at sundown, begins 10 days of Jewish soul-searching, known as the "Days of Awe," capped by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The New Year holiday itself is a time for festive meals, which traditionally include fish, wine and an apple dipped in honey to symbolize a sweet new year.
Israelis flocked to markets on the eve pearl beads of the holiday to stock up on goods, greeting one another with blessings of a happy new year.
The high holiday season, which includes the weeklong Sukkoth, or Feast of the Tabernacles, at the beginning of October, provides a time-out from Israel's pressing problems. People generally take off work and spend more time with family during this period.