* Poll gives PM approval rating of 5.6 out of 10 * Signs of public discomfort over rift with U.S. By Allyn Fisher-Ilan JERUSALEM, July 9 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received lukewarm ratings in a poll on Thursday on his first 100 days, and the opposition accused him of 'zero' achievements during that time. A solid majority of the public backed his refusal to freeze building activity within existing Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, but there were signs of discomfort with the rift this policy has created with the United States. Israel has been negotiating with U.S. President Barack Obama's peace envoy George Mitchell for a compromise on Washington's demand to halt construction in enclaves built on territory captured in 1967, which Palestinians want for a state. Palestinians insist the construction must stop in order for peace talks, delayed for months, to resume. A poll published by Tel Aviv University on Thursday showed 61 percent of Israelis backed Netanyahu's insistence that Israel should be able to continue building within established settlements to accommodate "natural growth". But when asked whether Israel should risk damaging its ties with its main ally to build settlements, support dropped to just 40 percent, the survey showed. Another survey, broadcast by Israel Radio, found Netanyahu had a 5.6 approval rating out of 10, trailing slightly behind Defence Minister Ehud Barak of the left-leaning Labour Party, now in charge of talks with the United States on the settlements. Netanyahu was well ahead of centrist Kadima party leader and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who scored 4.9. Kadima angered Netanyahu aides on Wednesday by distributing bumper stickers in parliament alleging his government, since its inauguration late in March, had spent "100 days in office, (with) 0 achievements." In a speech to parliament, Livni said Netanyahu's government "has succeeded in creating just one regrettable world consensus, that he doesn't really believe in creating two states for two peoples, that he is weak and must be pressured". Four Netanyahu aides convened a spur-of-the-moment news conference to list his achievements. "Are we panicking? I hate to disappoint you, but no," spokesman Nir Hefetz said. They praised a Netanyahu policy speech of last month as a diplomatic breakthrough for declaring conditional agreement to a demilitarised Palestinian state alongside Israel, if Palestinians recognised Israel explicitly as a Jewish state. Palestinians say they recognised Israeli sovereignty under a 1993 interim deal and dismiss further demands as stalling. Some pundits say Netanyahu's stance on settlements may boost support among Israeli leftists normally critical of him. Columnist Aluf Benn wrote in the Haaretz daily that many Israelis see the issue as a "test of wills rather than substance" with Washington that they don't want to fail.
Lebanese soldiers patrol the border with Israel at al-Abbad point in the village of Houla in south Lebanon July 8,2009. A Lebanese army colonel suspected of collaborating with Israel fled to ...
