Israel Development And Redevelopment

There's a riddle current in Jerusalem that reflects the great expectations of the massive wave of Soviet immigration into Israel. Question: What do you call a Soviet immigrant who is not an engineer or a physician? Answer: A computer programmer. By all accounts, the Soviet newcomers are the best educated--especially in science--ever to come in a bunch to Israel.

The real estate ads are seductive. Prestigious! Breathtaking views! Spacious, five bedrooms, with balcony! No monthly mortgage! But the publicity in Israeli newspapers fails to mention one thing: location, location, location. Har Homa, the "up-and-coming new suburb of Jerusalem," is under construction on disputed land that has long been a politically charged symbol of the battle to control this city claimed by Israel and the Palestinians.

From where she sits in the small grocery her family owns on Casa Nova Street, Juliette Mazzawi can hear the fiery words emanating from the loudspeakers at a makeshift mosque just down the block. The 43-year-old Christian listens to what she considers to be anti-Christian sermons and feels afraid--and she's surprised to feel that way.

Israel's economy is about to surge forward once again, and because of that there is hope that the peace process in the Middle East will translate into economic development for the region. In Israel, the newly elected government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak believes the economy can return to the 6%-a- year growth that it enjoyed in the early '90s, a bounce back from the 2% and less of recent years.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday dismissed criticism from Palestinian Authority officials and Israeli opposition leaders over a decision to begin construction at a politically sensitive site in East Jerusalem.

When construction of a new Jewish neighborhood began in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem last week, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat warned Israel: Peace and settlements cannot coexist. Days later, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a Tel Aviv cafe, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Arafat of having given a green light to terrorists. There can be no peace with terrorism, Netanyahu said.

When Benjamin Netanyahu stood beside President Clinton in Washington earlier this month and declared his intent to develop Jewish settlements, the Israeli leader's voice reverberated through the craggy hills of the West Bank and the crannies of East Jerusalem. The new prime minister's words rang pleasantly in the ears of Pinhas Wallerstein, chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

The Israeli government has approved a 1,200-unit project in the heart of the West Bank, its third major effort to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied territory within the last month. The building planned for the community of Emmanuel was announced this week by settlement leaders. It is the first new construction approved by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a settlement well beyond Israel's pre-1967 border.

The government announced Friday that construction of 4,000 apartments for Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union and other newcomers will begin next week. About 2,000 of the apartments will be in East Jerusalem, and Housing Minister David Levy, speaking to local officials in northern Israel, said the construction in that Arab quarter is a clear answer to U.S. policy questioning Israeli sovereignty over the area, Israel Radio reported. "It is not only our clear . . .

Israel's government does not interpret Secretary of State James A. Baker III's objection to settlements on occupied lands as a call for a definite freeze, Israeli officials say. Instead, they describe Baker as softly urging Israel to desist temporarily, for tactical motives, to get peace talks under way. "We do not feel that he is saying stop forever. Rather, he is saying that . . .

From where she sits in the small grocery her family owns on Casa Nova Street, Juliette Mazzawi can hear the fiery words emanating from the loudspeakers at a makeshift mosque just down the block. The 43-year-old Christian listens to what she considers to be anti-Christian sermons and feels afraid--and she's surprised to feel that way.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday dismissed criticism from Palestinian Authority officials and Israeli opposition leaders over a decision to begin construction at a politically sensitive site in East Jerusalem.

At 89, Yosef Burg looks back on Israel's first half-century as an elder measures the accomplishments of his offspring, and he issues a sober judgment: "First of all, I would like to say that we exist." In fact, this is no understatement from one of Israel's preeminent politicians, who has seen the Jewish state from its hardscrabble beginnings through five wars and myriad international crises. Against all odds, Israel exists.

On a vast expanse of open land in the rocky hills west of this booming Israeli settlement, the next explosive housing controversy may be taking shape. To Benny Kashriel, the mayor of Maale Adumim, the plans for a new neighborhood on the city's outskirts will allow it to attract thousands of residents and Jerusalem-area visitors with hotels, shops and new homes. "It's a question of business," Kashriel said of the proposal for 1,500 apartments and 3,000 hotel rooms. "It's not ideological at all."

Israel acknowledged Wednesday that it had quietly approved expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, adding to tensions on a day of new violence and anger between Israelis and Palestinians. A firebomb smashed into an Israeli army truck in the West Bank, sending it tumbling down a slope near the Jalazoun refugee camp and injuring 13 soldiers. In a nearby village, Israeli motorists beat a Palestinian they accused of stoning their car.

A move by the 22 members of the Arab League to freeze relations with Israel and reactivate an economic boycott of the Jewish state was a message to Israelis that they should reconsider a government that is leading the region into danger, Arab diplomats said Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted sharply to the Arab League resolution adopted at a two-day meeting in Cairo.

In a change of policy aimed at increasing the pressure on Israel to come to a Middle East peace conference, Saudi Arabia agreed Saturday to end its economic boycott of Israel if Israel stops building its settlements in the occupied territories. The Saudi action was announced here Saturday night after a meeting between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and King Fahd.

Israel punctuated remarks by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who said that settlements have nothing to do with a new U.S.-led peace plan, by revealing Thursday the start of construction of its first new settlement on the occupied West Bank in two years. The announcement, made on Israeli television and by a right-wing member of Shamir's ruling coalition, came just a day after Secretary of State James A.

Angered by the settlement policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Arab countries on Sunday moved to freeze relations with the Jewish state in a sharp symbolic rebuke that could mean a major reversal of Israel's hard-won diplomatic gains of the past several years.

When construction of a new Jewish neighborhood began in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem last week, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat warned Israel: Peace and settlements cannot coexist. Days later, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a Tel Aviv cafe, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Arafat of having given a green light to terrorists. There can be no peace with terrorism, Netanyahu said.