Departing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announces that Israel will cut off all direct or indirect government financing of illegal settlement outposts in response to rising violence by settler extremists (1). The International Herald Tribune profiles Israeli politician Yossi Beilin, who is set to retire from politics after February’s elections (2). An op-ed in the Economist surveys the prospects for peace talks under a new Israeli prime minister (3). The United Nations’ Middle East envoy condemns Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank (5). On the eve of United States elections, an op-ed by Ben Fishman in Al-Hayat assesses the future of U.S.-Middle East relations (8).