TEL AVIV, Israel – From the frenetic, traffic-choked streets of Tel Aviv to the lonely northern mountain town of Qiryat Shemona – only a few miles from the Lebanese and Syrian borders – some 300 Costa Ricans have built a home away from home in Israel, lured here by family ties, high-tech jobs and a lifelong dream of living in the Jewish state.
TEL AVIV, Israel – Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, the same year Israel declared independence. Sixty-six years later, Costa Rica remains one of the few countries without a standing military, while Israel – whose invasion of Gaza this summer following repeated Hamas rocket attacks drew angry reactions from across Latin America – ranks as one of the world’s most militarized societies.
Four men linked by Costa Rican intelligence to Panamanian groups involved in drug trafficking and contract killing were stopped Saturday as they tried to...