Who is more despicable is debateable these days. But surely Shimon Peres is deserving of nomination.

As Israeli army snipers pick off Palestinians and as Israeli army bulldozers dig trenches around Palestinian towns and cities, Peres fronts for the new Sharon regime telling the world the Israelis are going to "make life better for the Palestinians"!

And as a consequence the world's media, as in this Reuters story today, talk about "Peace Feelers"!

The Israelis are masters of deception and subterfuge. Even while they are squeezing and torturing the Palestinians into submission, all the while preparing their army for regional war, they are at the same time hiring public relations firms in the States, shoving Peres out front, and preparing for Ariel Sharon's triumphant visit to the U.S. in a few weeks.

JERUSALEM (Reuters - 9 March) - Israeli troops shot and wounded 29 Palestinians in the West Bank and a suspected sniper attack forced Israel's new Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer to take cover on Friday during a visit to the Gaza Strip.

The violence in the two areas was the most intense since right-wing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was sworn in on Wednesday at the head of a broad-based coalition government and began making peace overtures to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in the streets, calling for more suicide attacks against Israeli targets.

Witnesses and hospital officials said Israeli troops shot and wounded 29 Palestinians during clashes near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

They said two people were hit in the chest and critically wounded as Palestinians tried to reopen a road near Ramallah where the Israeli army has dug trenches, isolating villages, as part of so-called security operations Palestinians regard as a collective punishment.

In the Gaza Strip, the sound of a gunshot rang out as Ben-Eliezer and Israeli army Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, accompanied by officers, observed Palestinian areas from the rooftop of an Israeli brigade headquarters.

Mofaz and the officers crouched, while Ben-Eliezer's bodyguards instantly threw their arms around him and hustled him to the side.

Army Radio said a sniper had fired one shot at Ben-Eliezer on the roof and another as he was coming down.

But an Israeli army statement later said it appeared Ben-Eliezer had not been the target.

"After looking into the matter, it appears the shot that was heard during the defense minister's visit to the Gaza brigade headquarters was aimed at a nearby base and had no connection with his visit in the area," the statement said.

Ben-Eliezer later quipped to reporters: "I thought it was a cap pistol for the Purim holiday." Israel this week is celebrating Purim, a costume festival.

As one of his first acts in office, Sharon wrote to Arafat to discuss a halt to the bloodshed and pave the way for a possible renewal of peace talks, a Sharon aide said.

The aide said Israel's new leader was willing to meet Arafat in person to discuss ending violence but any peace negotiations could only take place after an extended lull in fighting.

In a letter sent on Thursday night, Sharon said he hoped for "personal contacts" to renew peacemaking and stop violence in which at least 342 Palestinians, 65 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have been killed since a Palestinian uprising erupted last September. "I hope that we will find a way to conduct personal contacts already in the near future in order to put an end to the cycle of bloodshed, hatred and incitement, and to renew security and economic cooperation on the way toward achieving true peace," Sharon's office quoted the letter as saying.

Sharon's spokesman made clear there was no change in his policy that violence must stop before peace negotiations start.

The proposal was for "personal contacts, channels of communications, even he himself meeting with Arafat in order to bring about an end to violence, hostilities and incitement and to prepare the way for negotiations," spokesman Raanan Gissin told Reuters.

"The actual negotiations with the Palestinians will not take place until the violence and acts of terror ease for an extended period of time," Gissin said.

Palestinian cabinet minister Nabil Shaath welcomed Sharon's letter but said Palestinians were waiting to see him take a first step by ending Israel's siege of the West Bank and Gaza.

In the West Bank, more than 15,000 Palestinians marched through the city of Tulkarm calling for more suicide bombers to attack Israeli targets.

The protesters marched to a nearby refugee camp, the home of Ahmed Aliyan, who killed himself and three Israelis when he detonated a bomb in the Israeli town of Netanya on Sunday.

"The suicide operations will continue," a banner read. The protest was organized by the Islamic Hamas organization which has threatened to unleash 10 suicide bombers since Sharon took power.

In Israeli cities, soldiers stood guard outside shopping centers as Israelis celebrated Purim, a holiday chosen by Palestinian militants to launch deadly bomb attacks in the past.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Israel's new government would take swift steps to ease Palestinian economic hardship and pave the way to a resumption of peace talks.

In an interview with Reuters, the dovish Peres outlined a plan of action that included relieving Israeli economic pressure on the Palestinians, toning down rhetoric on both sides and halting the bloodshed.

"We want to make life in the Gaza Strip and West Bank easier and better and more acceptable to the people who live there. I think it will be quite early...we are not talking in terms of months, we are talking in terms of weeks," Peres said.

Asked if the moves would mean an end to an Israeli blockade of the West Bank and Gaza that has crippled the Palestinian economy, he said: "At least partially, yes."

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JERUSALEM POST - NEW YORK (March 9) - The Foreign Ministry and American Jews are waging a war for public opinion here, using public relations firms, pollsters, and think tanks instead of guns, tanks, and combat helicopters.

Since early February, public relations firms Rubenstein Associates and Morris, Carrick & Guma have been working for the Foreign Ministry to enhance Israel's image. They are working for an undisclosed sum on a three-month trial basis, dealing with media placement and monitoring media coverage of events in Israel.

"We're assisting them in telling their story throughout the US," said Steven Rubenstein, executive vice president of Rubenstein Associates.

At MCG, which worked on the campaigns of New York Sen. Charles Schumer, Josh Isay offered little more insight into the project. "The Foreign Ministry and the consulates do a tremendous job, and we are just here to help when needed," he said.

According to an official at the consulate here, the firms are in close touch with it, sometimes speaking on the phone three or four times a day. "It's a study in progress," he said. "We expect to see the results within the next two to four weeks."

Daniel Seaman, acting director for the foreign press at the Government Press Office, said that the money being spent on the firms would be better spent on his understaffed and underfunded office.

"Came October, we were completely unqualified" to cope with the media onslaught, he said Seaman, adding that he needs an additional six employees, for a total of 15, to adequately monitor the media and deal with the estimated 1,200-1,400 foreign journalists in Israel.

Seaman was appointed acting director in January, three months after his predecessor left. For the past month, he has been on reserve duty, and he noted that the staffer in charge of translations has been called up for a month of reserve duty in April.

"If we're given the resources, the money they spend on the companies in the US, if we could give it to people here for better salaries, with more people, I don't see why we can't do as good a job," said Seaman.

Consul-General in New York Alon Pinkas is in charge of coordinating the PR efforts in the US. Although he refused to comment for this article, in January he said the Foreign Ministry was looking into "professionalizing our media, communications, and PR efforts, especially because of the last three or four months." He added that he was attending media training lessons twice a week to improve his TV appearances.

In 1993, Pinkas, then an adviser to foreign minister Shimon Peres, abolished the foreign PR office after Peres invoked a new policy. "If you have good policy, you do not need PR. And if you have a bad policy, PR will not help," Peres said at the time.

Though Pinkas declined to answer questions on the evolution of his stance on PR, an official at the consulate said, "Reality changes and we have to be smart enough to change with the times. We are currently engaged in a conflict with the Palestinians, and engaging in a successful PR campaign is part of winning the conflict."

Other PR efforts underway include a proposed think tank, which is to be led by Philadelphia philanthropist Leonard Abramson and includes Birthright backer Michael Steinhardt, World Jewish Congress president Edgar Bronfman, and Tel Aviv University.

In addition, ideas of establishing New York-based Jewish radio and TV networks are also being floated. The force behind the idea is Zev Brenner, head of Talkline Communications Network, a Jewish network in the US with 30 hours a week of radio and TV air time.

"One of the problems with the media is that, unlike other ethnic communities, the Jewish community does not have a full-time Jewish radio and TV station," said Brenner, who said he is talking to private investors about acquiring additional TV and radio networks. "For other communities, when there's a crisis, there are not only members of the community who tune in, but other media pick up the cue for what's being reported."

Also in progress is a national poll, commissioned by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, on the attitudes of Americans toward Israel, the Middle East, and the peace process. The results of the poll, which was conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, are being analyzed and are to be released soon.