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Israelis face New Year with new concerns

By SEAN GAFFNEY, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 12, 12:21 PM ET

JERUSALEM - Israelis ushered in the Jewish New Year on Wednesday evening amid new fears of war, following fresh rocket attacks from Gaza and reports of an Israeli airstrike in Syria.

At the same time, however, a flurry of diplomacy with the Palestinians has revived peacemaking for the first time in seven years.

The Rosh Hashana holiday, followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement — is traditionally a time for taking stock of spiritual and cultural values, and Israelis were in thoughtful mood in the hours before the start of the holiday, at sunset.

At the lively open air Mahane Yehuda market in downtown Jerusalem, where shoppers scrambled to stock up on food before the two-day holiday, some Israelis expressed discontent with the government and frustration with the continued conflict with the Palestinians.

"I don't think you'll find any Israel who's optimistic," said Ari Bouderhem, 47, owner of the Emil coffee shop. "It's not in our nature."

Bourderhem said holiday business was better than last year, which was marred by an inconclusive summer war with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. But he said he saw rough times ahead and "maybe a war."

Jewish families celebrate Rosh Hashana by eating apples and honey and other traditional foods symbolizing sweetness and prosperity. The holiday this year falls on the same day as the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, so as Jews sit down for festive family dinners, Muslim families will also gather for a special meal ahead of their month of sunrise-to-sunset fasting.

In a routine measure, the Israeli military ordered a closure of Israel's borders with the West Bank and Gaza over the holiday, when packed synagogues, beaches and parks in Israel are seen as being particularly vulnerable to attack.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian rocket from Gaza struck an army base in southern Israel, wounding 40 soldiers, one critically. Israel's government, however, has ruled out a large-scale military retaliation, a decision some Israelis questioned.

"I just don't believe in this government anymore," said Moshe Levi, 40, a fruit seller.

Israeli authorities are apparently concerned that a military incursion into Hamas-controlled Gaza could undermine fledgling peace talks with the moderate Fatah movement in control of the West Bank.

In a three-hour meeting on Monday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to set up high-level working groups to outline a final peace deal before a proposed international conference in November.

Israelis also expressed concern about Syrian accusations that their nation's warplanes struck deep into Syrian territory last week. The wall-to-wall silence on the reports from the normally voluble Israeli government has fueled worries about possible war as Israelis struggle to figure out what the planes were doing in Syria.

A poll published in the Maariv newspaper Wednesday showed Olmert's approval rating was 3.2 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Two women — Parliament Speaker Dalia Itzik and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni — emerged as Israel's most popular politicians, with grades of 6.3 and 6.1, respectively.

The poll was conducted among 489 Israelis and had a 4.4 percent margin of error.

Israel's population remained largely stable, with a total of 7.11 million citizens, compared with 6.99 million the year before, according to government data released Tuesday.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said the Jewish population at the end of 2006 was 5.39 million, versus 5.31 million in 2005, while there were 1.41 million Arab Israelis, compared with 1.38 million a year earlier.

The Jewish year of 5768 also marks a year of agricultural sabbatical, known in Hebrew as "shmita." The commandment requires Jewish farmers in Israel to let their fields rest every seventh year, just as Jews are required to rest every seventh day.

In the past, the sabbatical prodded the Jewish state into strange arrangements with Palestinian farmers, and forced Jewish farmers and rabbis to devise creative loopholes that allow fieldwork to continue without violating the letter of the law.

Israelis face New Year with new concerns  (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_jewish_new_year_1)