February 17, 2001

Lost Bearings in Israel It was a disorienting week, with political foes from the Labor Party and the Likud Party vowing unity and a Palestinian attack upsetting core assumptions. NEWS ANALYSIS, PAGE A3

Chelsea Mini-Storage in Manhattan is center for wholesale African art market, with more than 600 traders making deals in stalls they rent on monthly basis; tension sometimes flares between established gallery dealers and African traders, who may deal in shoddy merchandise; photo (M)

William C Rhoden Sports of the Times column examines New Jersey Nets guard Stephon Marbury's lack of respect for New York Knicks guards Charlie Ward and Chris Childs; says great player, such as Marbury, on poor team is doomed to frustration; photo (M)

Current and former US officials say senior diplomats in Clinton admninistration initilly blocked Israeli lobbying efforts on behalf of fugitive financier Marc Rich, but were bypassed in final decision-making when President granted Rich pardon on his last day in office; say Israeli government first approached senior American diplomats in support of Rich in 1995, and was not asking for pardon but rather tacit American acceptance of proposal to allow him to travel more freely without fear of being arrested and returned to US; say Israelis dropped matter after meeting unified resistance from State Department, and that matter was never again raised with American diplomats until final days of Clinton administration by Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, who made personal appeal (M)

US and British warplanes stage air strikes against Iraqi radar stations and air command centers, including targets around Baghdad, in what Pres Bush calls necessary response to Iraqi provocation; raid, carried out by more than three dozen planes, represents escalation of long-running, low-level skirmishes between American and British jets and Iraqi forces; is first in two years against Iraqi targets north of no-flight zone over southern Iraq, which American and British planes have patrolled since 1992; officials say American military commanders in region requested strikes because Iraqi air defense stations have become increasingly aggressive and effective in targeting patrols over zone; photos; map; diagram (M)