July 21, 1989

LEAD: Not long ago a political pariah for his role in Israel's Lebanon war, Ariel Sharon now has such power that many call him the real force behind Israel's Government. Page A2.

LEAD: As the Bush Administration prepares to disclose the details of its recent proposal for a new clean-air bill on Friday, auto industry executives are striving to focus the debate on the high cost of a number of changes that they concede are - or soon will be - technically feasible.

LEAD: Yes, he's asking that question again, at political clubs, churches and union halls, at meetings of civic and business groups, on impromptu sidewalk strolls, in restaurants and at least one bar and, the other day, in that ritual of New York campaigns, on a rush-hour subway train.

LEAD: The calluses that allow Felix Lopez Jacobo to carry a sharpened seven-foot saw by its gleaming shark-sized teeth are a leathery tribute to nine years of backbreaking work to build a cooperative, the culmination of his lifelong dream to own the ground he and his family cultivate.

LEAD: After years of battling local school officials over how far they should go to accommodate religious beliefs, this Hasidic village has come up with a bold plan: to create its own public school district serving only Hasidic children.