Israeli Government

JERUSALEM - The day before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faces sharp debate about his policies at his own Likud Party convention, his government made an effort to pacify his critics yesterday, issuing tenders for 1,001 new, government-subsidized apartments for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. The decision will annoy Washington, Western diplomats said. The so-called "road map" to peace, which Israel accepted, calls for a freeze on Israeli settlement activity. While Israeli officials insisted that the new housing was long planned and remained within current settlement boundaries, it will renew the debate in Washington over Israeli compliance.

As President Barack Obama begins his second term, he faces a series of Middle East challenges far more daunting than when he began his presidency in 2009. These problems include: •what to do about the Arab-Israeli conflict, with peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority still frozen; •whether to intervene in the civil war in Syria, which has now claimed more than 60,000 lives, with the opposition to the Assad regime becoming more Islamist; •how to manage relations with an increasingly Islamist regime in Egypt in such a way that the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty is not endangered; •how to handle an Iraq on the verge of multiple civil wars, one between the Arabs and the Kurds and the other between Sunnis and Shiites; •how to deal with al-Qaida activity in both Yemen and North Africa (Mali and Algeria)

As someone who has visited Jerusalem, the ancient city where three religions try to co-exist, I was startled to read "Three questions for the U.S. about Jerusalem" (Aug. 18). The arrogance expressed in that letter was over-the-top. The letter writer's initial question is "whether the U.S government considers Jerusalem to be part of Israel. " Jerusalem is an international city. And if the Israeli government would end its occupation of Palestine, this international city could be a beacon of hope promoting diversity and tolerance against hate and bigotry.

Two of the more common falsehoods that beset much of what passes for "analysis" of the current conflict between Hamas and Israel are exemplified in the Nov. 20 commentaries of Zainab Chaudry ("In Gaza, the powerless multitudes suffer") and G. Jefferson Price III ("For Israel, it's different this time"). Ms. Chaudry's falsehood of choice is moral equivalency. After deviously claiming that Israel is targeting military operatives and infrastructures in Gaza "in response to reports of rocket strikes in its territory" (as if the 900 rockets fired by Hamas into Israel since the beginning of 2012 were unconfirmed rumors that still await verification)

JERUSALEM - After releasing Yasser Arafat before dawn from a monthlong siege, the Israeli government declared late last night that other Palestinian leaders under Israeli interrogation had implicated him in financing terrorist attacks. While the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon released a three-page statement outlining its charges, it did not describe a link between Arafat and any particular attack or produce additional documents to back up its accusations. But it said the interrogations supported its previous assertions that Arafat had approved money for operatives "with the knowledge that it would be used to finance terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians."

TEL AVIV -- The Israeli government said yesterday it plans to sell its national flag carrier, El Al Israel Airlines, to the public, keeping only a so-called "golden share."The government plans initially to sell 51 percent of the carrier and the rest at a later date. A statement issued by the Israeli transport ministry did not say when the first tranche would be sold, but the Israeli daily newspaper Telegraph reported that the government intended to sell the initial 51 percent by year-end.

Ray McGovern, in his op-ed ("Is Israel fixing the intel?" July 31), questions whether Israel is our ally since there is no mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and Israel. I also question whether Israel is an ally, not so much because of a recognized treaty, but because Israel has never done anything that I can see for the benefit of this country. Oh yes, the U.S. is definitely an ally of Israel, lavishing on it economic, military, and political support far beyond that which we give other countries, and even beyond what our government gives to its own citizens.

AL-KHADER, Israeli-Occupied West Bank -- The growl of bulldozers on a rocky, thorn-filled hilltop yesterday announced a new round of conflict over the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.Israeli soldiers and police arrested 45 Palestinians and sympathetic Israelis who tried to block the bulldozers from carving out a new Jewish neighborhood of 500 houses near Bethlehem.The confrontation brought calls by Palestinians for an end to their negotiations with Israel until Israel stops adding to Jewish settlements.

JERUSALEM - The Israeli government approved yesterday the release of more than 400 Palestinian prisoners starting as early as this week in a bid to satisfy a key Palestinian demand and to prevent the latest Middle East peace plan from breaking down. The list of Palestinians to be sprung from Israeli jails and detention centers includes an assortment of prisoners, from petty thieves and elderly convicts to men held as possible security risks, Israeli officials said. The first of the releases could come as soon as Wednesday.

JERUSALEM - Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said yesterday that it was not Israeli policy to kill Yasser Arafat, toning down remarks by the deputy prime minister, who said Sunday that killing Arafat was an option under consideration by the government. Shalom's statement came after Secretary of State Colin L. Powell warned that killing or exiling Arafat would ignite rage throughout the Arab and Muslim world. The Israeli government decided Thursday to "remove" Arafat at a time of its choosing, without ordering any immediate action.

More than seven years after Israel withdrew from Gaza in exchange for peace, we stand today faced with increased rocket fire from Hamas (an organization that is on the U.S. State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations). In the past 12 years, over 12,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. In the past year, over 800 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. In the past five days, over 150 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. I propose a simple question with a complex answer: When is it enough?

The escalating exchange of rocket barrages and airstrikes between Israel and the Hamas militants who control the Gaza Strip threatens to erupt into an all-out ground war that destabilizes the entire region. The U.S. and its European allies, along with Egypt, Turkey and the United Nations, must do everything possible to nudge the belligerents back from the edge through diplomatic means before events spin completely out of control. No nation can allow its citizens to be attacked and killed with impunity by a foreign power that fires missiles indiscriminately across its borders at major towns and cities.

While I agree that how President Obama (or any president) might respond to an Israeli military strike in Iran is an important topic for any voter to consider, including Jewish voters, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich's rambling discussion of the topic is way off the mark ("Can Jews be sure of Obama's commitment to Israel," Sept. 2). He seems of touch with most American Jewish voters. To suggest that Jewish citizens vote Democrat out of "habit" is insulting. Jewish voters are not one-issue voters (i.e.

As someone who has visited Jerusalem, the ancient city where three religions try to co-exist, I was startled to read "Three questions for the U.S. about Jerusalem" (Aug. 18). The arrogance expressed in that letter was over-the-top. The letter writer's initial question is "whether the U.S government considers Jerusalem to be part of Israel. " Jerusalem is an international city. And if the Israeli government would end its occupation of Palestine, this international city could be a beacon of hope promoting diversity and tolerance against hate and bigotry.

Ray McGovern, in his op-ed ("Is Israel fixing the intel?" July 31), questions whether Israel is our ally since there is no mutual defense treaty between the U.S. and Israel. I also question whether Israel is an ally, not so much because of a recognized treaty, but because Israel has never done anything that I can see for the benefit of this country. Oh yes, the U.S. is definitely an ally of Israel, lavishing on it economic, military, and political support far beyond that which we give other countries, and even beyond what our government gives to its own citizens.

It's curious that Mitt Romney's fundraiser in Israel in itself has raised so little commentary, much less criticism, in mainstream news media ("'Culture' comment follows Romney," July 31). If he or another presidential candidate had held one in any other country, the pundits would be fulminating about this blatant foreign influence on internal affairs. I suppose the wall between our own national self-interests and the interests of the Israeli government has become so thin and permeable that no one should be surprised at the yawning indifference to this faux pas. And the fact that Mr. Romney's fundraiser took place in Jerusalem at the King David Hotel, so soon after the candidate's insulting behavior toward his British hosts in the United Kingdom, is also remarkable.

WASHINGTON -- A spokesman for House Speaker Newt Gingrich yesterday defended a job given to Mr. Gingrich's wife by a company seeking to run a free-trade zone in Israel.Marianne Gingrich was hired in September by the Israel Export Development Co., a Jerusalem-based company owned by American businessmen, to recruit U.S. businesses for what is to be a tax-free, bureaucracy-free business park in Israel, The Sun reported Saturday.The company, made up of such business leaders as CBS Chairman Laurence Tisch and clothing magnate Sy Syms, has been promoting the idea of a free-trade zone to the Israeli government for the past two years and has lobbied members of Congress, including Mr. Gingrich, to build support.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank use only 12 percent of the land allocated to them, but one-third of the territory they do use lies outside their official jurisdictions, according to a new report released yesterday by Peace Now, a dovish advocacy group. According to the report, based on official data released by the Israeli government after a court order, 90 percent of the settlements sprawl beyond their official boundaries despite the large amount of unused land already allocated to them.

News of last week's terrorist bombing near Jerusalem's central bus station that killed one woman and injured 30 people reawakened traumatic memories of the dark days in Israel between 2001-2004 when bombs exploded regularly in Israel's buses, cafes and streets, killing more than 1,000 innocent people. Those relentless attacks during the second "intifada" were the reason — the only reason — that the Israeli government built its security fence: to end terrorist bombings and protect its citizens.

In September, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that filmmaker Michael Moore had launched a campaign to free Pfc. Bradley Manning, who has been accused of providing most, if not all, of the classified documents being revealed on WikiLeaks. Mr. Manning has not yet been charged with a crime. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he will soon, again, seek the release to Israel of Jonathan Pollard, an American citizen employed by U.S. naval intelligence, who was convicted in 1987 of espionage on behalf of Israel and sentenced to life in prison.