Puppet regimes are back in the Middle East. Once again, they're promoting peace, diversity and the importance of brushing your teeth. New episodes of Sesame Street are going on TV in Israel and the Palestinian territories, producers said Sunday, years after the original versions signed off.

Producers tailored the Middle Eastern casts and story lines to the fit the audiences. "Rehov Sumsum," the Israeli version of the show, for the first time includes a Muppet of Arab origin. Its Palestinian counterpart, "Shara'a Simsim," seeks to offer positive role models to boys in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"It's really about respect and tolerance," said Gary Knell, president of Sesame Workshop, the New York-based nonprofit group behind Sesame Street programming worldwide.

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"[The show] opens up a new way to deal with issues of conflict," Education Minister Yuli Tamir said at a ceremony in a Jerusalem kindergarten on Sunday, "just teaching children how to live together, how to work together with each other despite their differences." The ceremony followed more than a week of meetings Knell had with top political figures in the region, seeking funding and support for local Sesame Street productions.

Earlier in the day he met with Aliza Olmert, wife of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. On Saturday, while in Ramallah to mark the upcoming broadcast of 15 new episodes there, he met with Palestinian Authority senior aide and peace negotiator Saeb Erekat.

The Israeli version enjoyed wide success when first aired in the early 1980s. A lack of funds stopped production of new episodes for more than a decade, but producers relaunched the show last winter.