Israel

Manny Hamelburg, 68, a retired businessman, had fought prostate cancer for years. First, he tried radiation, then a drug with side effects that nearly killed him, and finally Lupron, a drug that blocks production of testosterone, the hormone that can fuel prostate cancer. The cancer disappeared. But life was miserable. Without normal levels of testosterone, Hamelburg says, he had no energy, and "zero libido for seven years. I was like a eunuch. I was chemically castrated. Sex was just hugs."

Archaeologists working at Tel Megiddo in northern Israel have uncovered a cache of jewelry dating from about 11 BC in a jug hidden in a private dwelling. The highlight of the jewelry is an unusual gold earring, probably influenced by Egyptian culture, that is decorated with molded ibexes (wild goats). The piece is "without parallel," said archaeologist Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, who announced the discovery Tuesday.

Thousands cheered Sunday as the blue-and-white Star of David flag was raised for the first time in front of the Israeli Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard. "As we mark 60 years of Israeli independence, as we paint Wilshire Boulevard blue and white, we must reaffirm in one voice our support for the Jewish state," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told those gathered for the flag-raising ceremony.

TEL AVIV - With the acquisition this month of a sixth German-made submarine, Israel is seeking to position itself as the region's undisputed naval powerhouse. From spying on enemies to intercepting illegal arms shipments to blockading the Gaza Strip, Israel's naval capabilities are playing a more prominent role in the nation's security. The latest advanced German sub, with a price tag of more than $500 million, is Israel's most expensive piece of military equipment. The subs - which are believed to be fitted with nuclear weapons - also provide Israel with a second-strike capability designed to discourage surprise enemy offensives.

Highlights of the "road map" for Mideast peace, developed by the "quartet" of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia: Goals * A "final and comprehensive settlement" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by 2005. * The settlement will include "an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel."

The novel "The House of Dajani" by Israeli writer Alon Hilu, coming out in English this month, is set in the late 19th century in the coastal town of Jaffa and follows the encounter between Jews and Arabs in Ottoman Palestine. "The House of Dajani"

Re "Israel Needs Realism to Find Its Way in an Arab World," Commentary, May 31: Edward Said conveniently ignores Israel's realities. Said curiously makes no mention of Syria's brutal occupation of Lebanon. And he speaks as if Israel has no right to self-defense. And if Israel's supporters "have a stranglehold on U.S. media" as he states, how could his arrogant and offensive commentary have been published? RICHARD DORENSTREICH Aliso Viejo

As president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, I have always remained open and impartial to the wide diversity of opinions within our academic faculty and their right to free speech, no matter how controversial their views or writings may be. However, I strongly believe a call for a worldwide boycott of Israel written by a Ben-Gurion University faculty member, Neve Gordon, that appeared in The Times oversteps the boundaries of academic freedom...

His name rhymed with Al Capone and he came to a bad end behind the wheel of a rented white Volkswagen. Until the moment a bomb planted on his car exploded on a Tel Aviv street, mob boss Yaakov Alperon was living large. He and his Carmela Soprano-blond wife, Ahuva, were media darlings who even took part in a 2006 reality show in which a famous Israeli model moved in with their family.

Against the backdrop of a key gathering of the United States' pro-Israel lobby in the nation's capital, Rick Santorum on Monday delivered a forceful rebuke of President Obama's policy in the Middle East. Santorum implied a connection between the world view of the president and the Islamic world. After saying that a majority in the Islamic world or the Middle East didn't believe in the Holocaust and therefore did not recognize Israel's right to exist, Santorum said Obama also fails to understand Israel's special status.

JERUSALEM — The surprise unity government announced Tuesday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has many observers predicting that the reformed coalition will embark on a more moderate path, including reopening talks with Palestinians and softening rhetoric on attacking Iran. The addition of the centrist Kadima party to what has been called one of Israel's most right-wing coalition governments gives Netanyahu a comfortable 78% majority in the parliament, lessening the clout of small right-wing parties and factions.

Israel's move toward early elections is the latest sign that its threatened attack against Iran's nuclear facilities is unlikely to take place in the coming months. Though no final decision has been made about moving up national elections slated for next year, the Knesset, or parliament, is talking about dissolving this month and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to announce as soon as next week an election date in September. Some officials predict the chances of an Israeli airstrike against Iran will decrease because a divisive political campaign would paralyze the government and focus attention on domestic issues.

False equivalency Re "Student loans, abuse against women spur fights in Congress," April 26 The article says, "The looming confrontations on both issues show how hard it is for Republicans - or Democrats, for that matter - to compromise in this highly contentious environment. " Democrats, often to my dismay, are usually too willing to compromise. Republicans, at least since President Obama was elected, never do unless the public outcry is so great and they're forced to. And to imply that there is an equivalency between taking funds from public health versus a tax increase on the rich that is "off-limits" because almost all Republicans have signed a pledge not to raise taxes is laughable.

JERUSALEM — Historian Ben-Zion Netanyahu, the father of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the man said to have had the most profound influence on the conservative Israeli leader, died early Monday in his Jerusalem home. He was 102. The elder Netanyahu served as the personal secretary of Zionism's prominent Revisionist leader, Zeev Jabotinsky, in the United States during World War II, lobbying for the creation of a Jewish state. He also pursued his academic work, specializing in medieval Spanish Jewry and the roots of the Spanish Inquisition.

UMM AL FAHM, Israel — He's an Israeli-born Islamist whom the government considers so dangerous he's been banned from stepping foot in Jerusalem. Yet his prison stints over the last decade for allegedly funding terrorist groups, inciting violence and spitting on an Israeli security officer — all of which he denies — have only served to make Sheik Raed Saleh, 53, extremely popular and influential among Arab Israelis. After returning this month from London, where he successfully fought deportation by British immigration officials who cited his controversial views, Saleh received a hero's welcome.

JERUSALEM - The traditional Passover retelling of Exodus was barely underway in 2002 when Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer got a note with news of the latest in a string of Palestinian suicide attacks that had terrorized Israel for two years. He dashed to an emergency meeting of military commanders, all dressed in civilian clothes because they'd left their own Seder dinner tables upon hearing that 30 Israelis had been killed in the attack on the Park Hotel. After an all-night session, they made a decision that would change the face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Ben-Eliezer persuaded Israel's Cabinet to reoccupy the entire West Bank, even though it meant brushing aside the 1993 Oslo agreements that gave Palestinians control over many cities and their own security force.

CAIRO - The decorum of diplomacy has devolved into embarrassing headlines and testy one-liners in the increasingly strained relations between Egypt and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Egypt's Sinai peninsula had become a "kind of Wild West" overrun by militants, terrorists and arms smugglers. Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had suggested massing more Israeli troops along the border with Egypt. That drew a bit of mafia parlance from Egypt's military ruler, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi: "Our borders, especially the northeast ones, are inflamed.

JERUSALEM - Amid the collapse of a multibillion-dollar natural gas agreement between Egypt and Israel that had been in place since 2005, officials from both countries stressed Monday that the dispute was a commercial one and did not reflect political tensions. But observers viewed the contract spat as the latest sign of souring relations between the two countries and said it could threaten the long-term viability of their historic 1979 Camp David peace accord. Tensions between the two countries have been rising since the ouster last year of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who maintained close ties with Israel despite the relationship's unpopularity with the Egyptian public.