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Users of online social networking sites have long touted social media's ability to connect people thousands of miles apart. But Zvi Schreiber and Montasser Abdellatif may be on the verge of using the Internet to break through thicker walls.

Schreiber is the founder and CEO, and Abdellatif the marketing and communications manager, for a Web operating system that allows users to access an entire desktop and personal computing system from any Web browser. Called G.ho.st, which stands for global hosted operating system, the name also represents something else: Schreiber is Israeli and Abdellatif is Palestinian.

"This shows in practice that we can work together without any problems," Abdellatif told The Jewish State in a telephone conference with Schreiber. "G.ho.st is our company, and you know, ghosts go through walls."

Schreiber founded the company in 2006 with the goal of providing a virtual computer to anyone with access to the Internet.

"We now give you a whole computing environment inside a Web page, so your desktop, your files, and your programs all run inside a Web page," Schreiber said. "And that way, you can get to your whole computer from any physical computer in the world."

The company's name is always written G.ho.st, which is the exact Web site address for the company as well (no "dot com"). Currently, users get 15 gigabytes of storage for free, and anyone who invites a friend to use the service receives an additional 5 GB free. In the future, Schreiber said, they plan to offer more storage and services for a fee. G.ho.st recently held a launch party for the beta version.

Schreiber said he found the Palestinian employees through Internet searches and contacts.

"Yes, physical meetings have some limitations, although sometimes it's possible," Schreiber said. "But just electronically I found some people, and we sort of built a team together and then Montasser joined later as the marketing manager."

Abdellatif works at the Ramallah office, while Zvi works in Modi'in. They "meet" via video and teleconference, and "all the communications tools available."

When they need to meet face-to-face, Abdellatif can go to Jerusalem, since he has a permit to travel into Israel. As for the rest of the team, some have permits and some don't. When they all need to meet, Abdellatif said they travel to a coffee shop on a desert road between Ma'aleh Adumim and Jericho.

Abdellatif said the separation isn't holding the company back, but rather it proves the two sides can work together. Abdellatif added that usually Palestinians are consumers of Israeli goods and services, "but this time we are producers. So this time we are not the consumer, but making the product, and proud to deliver it all over the world. So the perspective is now different from before."

Added Schreiber, "This is actually an investment with money flowing into Palestine, whereas most commercial contact has been the other way."

Schreiber said the feedback overall has been positive, though he admits it is likely that some people chose not to work at G.ho.st because they are uncomfortable with Israelis and Palestinians working together so directly.

Schreiber said that business relationships between Israelis and Palestinians are more common, "but working together as a team is fairly unique, and that's where this does raise eyebrows on both sides. I think we've had a lot of positive feedback from both sides, and also some sensitivity."

Abdellatif said that G.ho.st is also the first company in Palestinian territory to give shares of the company to its employees. That makes the employees partners, an opportunity that simply isn't available elsewhere in Palestinian areas.

He said he hopes the information technology (IT) sector can be a pillar of the Palestinian economy, since it doesn't require physically exporting goods back and forth across the tightly controlled Israeli border.

Schreiber said he thinks the company has already had some impact beyond G.ho.st. Since the company's founding, other Israeli companies -- such as Cisco Israel -- have looked into doing research and development in Palestinian territory.

"So I hope that we're already succeeding a little bit in being a model for others," Schreiber said.

Recruiting in the West Bank can be difficult, because Schreiber's travel there is restricted. Nonetheless, the company has more Palestinian employees than Israeli employees.

"In actual fact, we were able to recruit good people using all the standard channels -- through university campuses, and through advertising in the newspaper, and the people I teamed up with in Palestine took charge in recruiting other people," Schreiber said.

Schreiber said that the diversity of the team strengthens the company, and he doesn't shy away from the suggestion that they are doing more than just offering computing services.

"There's certainly some extra energy from having a team which is crossing some serious cultural barriers, and maybe even setting precedents in doing that," Schreiber said. "And that certainly adds some excitement to what we're doing."