Israel's president Saturday pardoned the combat medic who shot dead at close range a badly wounded Palestinian attacker who had stabbed a soldier in the occupied West Bank a decade ago. Elor Azaria's conviction for manslaughter and his release after serving two-thirds of his sentence drew enormous attention in Israel,

British officials believed Israel had said it would hold off on moving ahead with construction in E1, a piece of land viewed as vital to a future Palestinian state. Israel said it promised no such thing.