Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu erupted in anger at the U.S. ambassador to Israel over what Israel’s government regards as unclear signals from the United States on Iran.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, described an encounter he wtinessed last month when he was visiting Israel for a Michigan radio station, WJR, in an interview picked up Thursday by the Atlantic magazine.

“It was very, very clear the Israelis had lost their patience with the (Obama) Administration,” Rogers said.

Daniel Shapiro, the ambassador to Israel, had said that the meeting was friendly and professional when details of the encounter were first leaked to the Israeli press.

Rogers suggested that Netanyahu initiated the argument.

“The meeting was designed, it was supposed to be between Netanyahu and myself on some intelligence cooperation matters and other matters, when it came to Iran and Syria and other things, and kind of devolved into this meeting where the ambassador was confronted directly,” he said.

Rogers described Israeli frustration at what he depicted as the administration’s failure to make clear to Israel or Iran whether and when it will use military force to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“Their frustration is that the administration hasn’t made it very clear — they’ve made it very clear to Israel in a public way that they shouldn’t do it, but haven’t made it very clear to Iran in a public way that there will be tougher action, which could include — and I argue peace through strength, so you just need to let them understand that that’s an option so we can deter them from their program,” he said.

“And right now the Israelis don’t’ believe that the Administration is serious when they say that all options are on the table, and more importantly neither do the Iranians,” Rogers said.

The Obama administration has endeavored in recent months to keep Israel from striking Iran as the Islamic Republic appears to edge closer to the capability to produce a nuclear weapon in short order.

In Charlotte, N.C., where the Democratic Party is holding its convention, Jack Lew, Obama’s chief of staff, was quoted as saying by an official of the Center for Middle East Peace as saying on Thursday that “We have made it clear to others what we think that time horizon will look like,” regarding an Iran timeline.

Mr. Peter. A. Joseph, Chairman, Israel Policy Forum Mr. David A. Halperin, Executive Director, Israel Policy Forum Dear Mr. Joseph and Mr. Halperin,

Permit me to introduce myself. I am Ambassador Alan Baker, a member of the Edmond Levy Commission established to examine the status of building in Judea and Samaria and to make recommendations to the government on this and related issues.

As you may know, I am the former ambassador of Israel to Canada and former legal adviser to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the latter capacity, since the early ‘90s I have served as a member in the Israeli delegations to the peace process negotiations with Israel’s neighbors, including the negotiation and drafting of the various agreements between Israel and the PLO.

I read with considerable dismay the letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu, dated July 13, 2012, sponsored by IPF and signed by 41 prominent personalities in the U.S. Jewish community, urging him to reject the Levy Commission’s findings and recommendations.

Rather than responding to each individual signatory directly, I am forwarding this response to you both, as chairman and executive director respectively of IPF, in the hope you will ensure that it is circulated among all the other signatories to the letter.

From the content and tenor of the letter, I suspect the signatories are basing themselves on selective media reports and other sources that in fact bear no relation whatsoever to the actual content of the Levy Commission report itself. This is perhaps understandable because, to the best of my knowledge, no English language version of the report exists (apart from a translation by me of the brief summary of the basic conclusion and recommendations).

Accordingly one may presume that none of the signatories have actually read the content of the report. In this context, one may wonder on what basis 41 prominent, important and responsible leaders of the U.S. Jewish community could seriously proffer criticism of a report that they have not read and presume to advise the prime minister of Israel to reject it.

Permit me, with respect, to presume that had the signatories read the report, they would not find any reason to claim, as stated in the letter, that the report “will place the two-state solution, and the prestige of Israel as a democratic member of the international community, in peril.”

Similarly, the description of the report as “legal maneuverings” and as something that will “add fuel to those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist,” other than insulting to myself and the other members of the commission in light of our respective contributions to the welfare and prestige of Israel, is totally devoid of any basis.

The central and reasoned conclusion of the report, reaffirming the legal and historic rights and claims of Israel with regard to the area and the nature of Israel’s presence therein, is no different from Israel’s policy statements over the years, including speeches by all of Israel’s leaders and ambassadors in the United Nations, as well as in official policy documents issued over the years by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

There is nothing in the report that could in any way be interpreted as placing the “two-state solution” in peril. The opposite is in fact the case. The report reiterates, in paragraph 9, that despite Israel’s well-based and solid legal and historical claims to sovereignty over the area and the right of Israelis to settle therein in accordance with the requisite legal norms and requirements, as set out in the body of the report, consecutive Israeli governments have chosen to opt and continue to opt in favor of conducting bone fide and pragmatic negotiations with the representatives of the Palestinian people and the Arab states, with a view to determine the fate of the area.

This is completely compatible with the address by Prime Minister Netanyahu to the U.S. Congress last May, quoted in your letter.

The main body of the Levy Report deals with practical ways of resolving the outstanding issues concerning planning, zoning and building in the area, in light of the confusing situation in this field that has developed over the last few years. The report proffers recommendations for adjudicating land-ownership disputes between Palestinian and Israeli claimants – all with a view to ensuring just, proper and fair administration.

A senior delegation of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace (RCP) met on Tuesday with Ambassador Andrew Standley, the Head of the European Union in Israel to present the Torah view on the issue of giving up land to the Arabs.

The rabbis made it clear that the majority of rabbis in Israel and abroad are of the opinion that is absolutely forbidden to give up an inch of land to the Arabs based on the clear Halacha in the Jewish Code of Law Chapter 329, that the sanctity of life overrides all other considerations and giving up land has proven more than once that it leads to violence, bloodshed and instability. “As rabbis we are committed to peace and promote peace, but a true and lasting peace not one that will blow up in our faces before the ink often agreement has a chance to dry,” they told the ambassador.

Rabbi Joseph Gerlitzky, the rabbi of Central Tel Aviv and Chairman of the RCP said that although Jews are obligated to observe the Torah precepts even if we don’t understand their meaning, the above ruling is understood by everyone. Even a young child understands that retreating from land leads to terrorism, bloodshed and missiles.

Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Lewin, Director-General of the RCP, asked the ambassador how long the EU would continue in this exercise in futility of supporting a “territory for peace” formula, which has proven time and time again that it is really “territory for terror.”

“The EU is urging Israel to withdraw to the 1967 borders. We did that in Gaza and what did we get? 10,000 missiles. Do you want that to happen in Judea and Samaria too?” Rabbi Lewin asked.

Rabbi Moshe Havlin, Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Gat and Sderot related how his own life and the lives of his family members, children, and grandchildren have been disrupted, and how they live in constant fear of being attacked by missiles from Gaza.

Rabbi Shlomo Rosenfeld, the Rabbi of Shadmot Mehula in the Jordan Valley emphasized that it is precisely the organization  that represents the European countries (the EU) where the Holocaust took place that must feel the responsibility for a secure Israel. “What is happening today in Israel is an extension of the Holocaust. The Jewish people are again being made a scapegoat for the lack of world peace while the Palestinian terrorists and murderers are depicted as innocent peace seekers. I want to state in no uncertain terms that the EU’s one sided support of the Palestinian demands is an extension of the Holocaust,” he said.

Rabbi Abraham Shreiber, the rabbi of the fomer Kfar Darom in Gush Katif related that before the disengagement from Gaza local Gaza residents and their Jewish neighbors lived in peace and harmony. The vegetables and crops grown in Gush Katif were the best in the country and the Arabs learned how grow them too. “We still get calls today from many former Arab neighbors complaining that situation has become much worse for the Arabs themselves as a result of the disengagement. They are pleading with us to come back,” he said.

Rabbi Jacob Shapiro, the dean of Yeshivat Mercaz Harav in Jerusalem, disclosed that the night that terrorists attacked the yeshiva several years ago, killing eight students, he received an anonymous call from a caller who told him: “we attacked you because you believe in the Bible that says that Israel belongs to the Jews.” “Our Bible is not only a history of the past but a blueprint for the future,” Rabbi Shapiro told Mr. Standley.

Ambassador Standley listened attentively to the rabbis and thanked them for coming to present the Torah view. He said that it is hard to argue with the rabbis since they live in Israel and feel the heat on a daily basis while he is only here for a few years and then will move on to another country. However, the ambassador said that he understands that the Jewish people are bound by the Torah, which is eternal, but he and the EU is bound by international law which has not yet accepted laws of the Torah. He added that he is always open and ready to listen to diverse views and will bring the RCP’s message to those that guide policy at the EU.

At a time when international sanctions seem to be getting results, and the United States appears to be avoiding public discussion of a military strike in Iran, a rare and ominous statement was made on Tuesday by a senior American official on the active preparations being taken for an operation against the Islamic Republic.

During a closed meeting held yesterday in Tel Aviv, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said that not only are all the options against Iran still on the table, but that above and beyond that, the United State has been working on getting the military option up and running, has actually completed the preparations for an attack, and has even tested them.

The closed meeting was being recorded by Ze’ev Kam of the daily “Makor Rishon.”

“It would have been better to solve it (the Iranian nuclear crisis) in a diplomatic way, by using pressure and without applying military force,” the ambassador clarified at the closed meeting, “But that does not mean that this option is not possible. Not only is it possible, it is ready. The necessary planning is in place to make sure it’s ready.”

Iranian Deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian, expressed his hope today that next week’s nuclear talks between Iran and the sextet in Baghdad will be a step toward resolving the issue, and urging the West to continue negotiation in a realistic atmosphere.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced that Israel had severed all working relations with the United Nations Human Rights Council as of Monday this week, and will block a U.N. fact finding team from entering Israel or Judea and Samaria to investigate Jewish settlements.

According to the Israeli government, the council has shown a clear anti-Israel bias, both in the content of its references to it, and its disproportionate attention to Israel’s Palestinian policy, as compared to all the other human rights issues on the planet.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said this “means that we’re not going to work with them. We’re not going to let them carry out any kind of mission for the Human Rights Council, including this probe.”

Speaking in Copenhagen, after a meeting with the Danish foreign minister, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said “Israel never cooperated with all fact finding missions that were sent and established by the U.N. to investigate the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians.”

The PLO ambassador at the United Nations on Wednesday condemned Israeli settlement activity in a series of letters to senior UN officials.

“There have been confirmations by the UN Security Council and General Assembly, Human Rights Council and the Social and Economic Council on the illegality of all settlement activity in a number of resolutions which are still available, and we are still calling on Israel to respect and implement the resolutions,” Mansour said.

The UN ambassador sent letters to the President of the Security Council and head of the General Assembly, criticizing ongoing settlement building.

Israel is obligated under the Road Map to freeze all settlement activity, Mansour said.

“Israel, however continues directly to neglect and violate all international commitments,” he added.

The ambassador added that settlements are proof that Israel rejects a two state solution based on 1967 borders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week has legalized three Jewish outpost communities which were erected in the 1990s.

At a meeting late Monday, a ministerial committee legalized Bruchin (home to 350 residents) and Rechelim (home to 240 residents) in Samaria, and Sansana (home to 240 residents) in Judea.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reacted by saying, “We don’t think this is helpful to the process. We don’t accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity.”

Palestinians and Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now slammed the government, saying the government is hereby creating new settlements for the first time since 1990.

Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said that the legalizing ” sends a clear message to both the international community and to the Palestinians that Israel is more committed to land theft than peacemaking.”

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry has rejected the New Year’s wishes of Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, sending the letter back because it called Jerusalem the capital of the State of Israel.

Israeli Ambassador to Jordan Danny Naveh was called in to receive the protests of head of the Jordanian Senate Taher al-Masri, who said the letter’s “objectionable opinions” reflect a “mentality of someone who conquers land and other people’s rights,” according to Jordanian daily newspaper al-Ghad. In the letter, similar copies of which were sent around the world to various international leaders and parliamentarians, Rivlin wished al-Masri a happy solar new year, and signed it from “the holy city of Jerusalem, the capital of Israel”.

In the letter, Rivlin also noted current threats to the Jewish state from Iran, Hamas, and Hizbullah, and criticized the Palestinian Authority, who he says “refuses to resume face-to-face peace negotiations with Israel.” Yet he expressed hope for the future of Israel, saying “despite all challenges, we will remain optimistic because our fathers who founded the state in 1948 were optimistic” despite the harsh physical conditions they encountered.

Al-Masri said the letter exemplified “Israel’s arrogance, boasting and racism, as well as pervert[s] historic facts to prove Israel’s claims.”

Rivlin commented Sunday at England’s House of Lords that Zionism is not anti-Arab or anti-Islam. He said he would be willing to meet with al-Masri to discuss the letter, if the Jordanian legislator wished.

Speaking with Jordan’s King Abdullah in Washington on Wednesday, US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen urged Jordan to name a new ambassador to Israel.

Ros-Lehtinen, a noted Republican supporter of Israel, was quoted by AFP as saying that “Jordan has not yet appointed an ambassador to Israel in the year and a half since the previous ambassador moved on, and I would strongly encourage you to do so.”

The New York Stock Exchange celebrated its fifth annual Israel Day on Tuesday, inviting Israeli innovators and start-ups to a day-long conference, “A Partnership of Business Innovation”.

The opening bell was sounded by Israeli and American executive officers and heads of the America-Israel Friendship League. Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor, Israeli Consul-General Ido Aharoni, Former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman, and Ofra Strauss of The Strauss group were featured speakers.

Israeli companies currently hold a $11.4 billion market cap in the NYSE Euronext markets.