In the geopolitical world of realpolitik, there are actions a government can take – and has every right to take – that it should not take. This week’s announcement that the State of Israel will build 900 new homes in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood, which sits over the pre-1967 Israeli-Jordanian armistice line, fits into that category.

First, let me be clear: Israel is the sole governor of Jerusalem – even though I believe that one day the city’s boundaries will be redrawn (which is how an Israeli government will be able to legitimately say that it never divided the city).

Also, Jerusalem has a housing shortage. Still, there were alternatives to this move. For example, the government recently scrapped the Safdie plan, which would have seen the construction of 20,000 new housing units to the West of the city. It was canceled primarily over environmental concerns. One, however, wonders why it was not reworked to fit the needs of the area’s ecosystems.

And one can sense the personal ideological and political reasons behind Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s approval of the new housing. However, we American Jews are obligated to inform him that he is making one of our core tasks – advocating for the State of Israel –more difficult and that he is potentially damaging the State of Israel’s overall well being.

That’s because this occurs after Mr. Netanyahu’s successful White House visit, U.S. praise of Israel’s “unprecedented restraint” on settlement building, a rallying of the American Jewish troops at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, and reports of real Palestinian economic progress on the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Israel needs help in the world of public opinion, which plays an important role in keeping Israel’s economic opportunities strong. In particular, Israel needs aid in thwarting mounting pressure from the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Goldstone report, which called Israel action during the 2008-2009 war with Hamas “war crimes.” In addition, this week’s headlines put Mr. Netanyahu’s call for immediate negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria’s overtures for such talks into a deep freeze.

Pride and bravado aside, the State of Israel – which receives about $4 billion a year in military aid from Washington—cannot stick its thumb in the eye of the U.S. government and seek business as usual.

After the outcry of groups, including leading Jewish ones, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced that it will remove language from a new document that said interfaith dialogue was an opportunity to convert people to Catholicism.

This is a positive development in ties between the two communities. Yet, one is still troubled that leading members of the USCCB initially felt that such wording was acceptable. One sincerely hopes that the USCCB is changing its policy not out of pressure, but out of an understanding of how offensive this was to Jews, others and the spirit of interfaith dialogue in general.

Members of the coalition opposing the original wording included the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the National Council of Synagogues, the Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America.

In part of its response to a formal letter raising the concerns, the Bishops wrote that the Jewish covenant “endures till the present day.” That reflects the well-established principles established by the late Pope John Paul II regarding the historic Catholic-Jewish rapprochement launched by the Catholic Church’s Vatican II teachings in 1965. 

Bottom line: Think of how far we’ve come. The Catholic Church actually is willing to listen to Jewish concerns. That speaks incredibly well of the Church and we Jews should acknowledge it.

Despite what sometimes seems to be the case, anti-Semitism in this country has just reached its lowest level in the 45 years that it has been tracked. That is reason to celebrate. At the same time, anti-Semitic acts of violence do seem to be increasing, which gives one reason for both concern and precautionary measures.

Last week the Anti-Defamation League released its annual survey of American anti-Semitic attitudes. It found that 12 percent of Americans hold such views. Obviously any racism, hatred or bigotry is too much—even though there always be some. Indeed, this represents roughly 30 million Americans – and the mark is much higher amongst African Americans (28 percent) and foreign born Hispanics (35 percent). Interestingly, at all age levels, men are more likely than women to hold anti-Semitic views. Still, in overall numbers, this is a nice drop the 15 percent of 2007 and the now seemingly impossible high mark of 29 percent in 1964.

As ADL National Director Abraham Foxman explained, “just as the good news about the election of an African-American as President has been tempered by the surfacing of racism and conspiratorial thinking in reaction, so too the significant diminution of widespread prejudice against Jews is tempered by the manifestation of violence, conspiracy theories and insensitivities toward them.”

Not surprisingly, education levels have a lot to do with levels of anti-Semitism. That’s why a range of programs – such as nationally with ADL’s World of Difference, and locally with the Jewish foundation sponsored placement of a Jewish educator at the St. Francis Academy – can make a real impact.