martin fletcher has our report. >> reporter: palestinians tell me that the hair on their arm stands wheny see the flag coming from the bottom and see it on top. >> reporter: you can hardly miss it, 1,000 square feet of palestinian pride. among the dry west bank hills about 20 miles from jerusalem -- >> this is the second phase. >> reporter: bashar is fed up waiting for the palestinianoliticians to build a palestinian state. so this 52-year-old palestinian-american businessman is building the first planned palestinian city. >> and i know most of my people, we would love to see a great nation for our kids and grandchildren. but we also want to see it for ourselves. >> reporter: masri has raised $1 billion to fund the biggest private investment in palestinian history. that's one big gamble for you. >> it is a large gamble, definitely. however, if we the palestinians, don't take risks who's going to do that? and our nation will never be built. >> reporter: the message, get on with it. masri's city is becoming a fact. some 40,000 palestinians will live here. homes here cost between $60,000 an

"newshour" correspondent martin fletcher reports. >> reporter: it's a running joke here in israel. moses lead the jews through the desert for 40 years through the only place in the middle east with no oil and no gas. so israel's been almost totally dependent on fuel imports for energy. costly and precarious, a nation surrounded by often hostile neighbors. but now that's all changing. israel has at last discovered so much natural gas, it's heading towards energy independence, a gas exporter in just a few years. 56 miles after israel's mediterranean coast, the tamar reservoir started flowing earlier this year with enough gas to supply israel for decades, another field nearby almost twice as big should be pumping in three to four years. israel believes both fields lie well within its maritime borders though the lebanese government has challenged that. the stakes are high because there are also reports of huge oil deposits near the very same gas fields. some call these new discoveries an economic miracle. >> amazing, amazing, amazing story. >> reporter: and that joke about moses? >> we

"newshour" special correspondent martin fletcher reports from israel. >> reporter: for israel, syria is really a four-letter word, iran. that was prime minister netanyahu's message to new navy officers last week and to president obama. speaking of syria's chemical weapons, he said, "the world must make sure that whoever uses weapons of mass destruction pays a price for it. the message that is received in syria," he said you" will be received loudly in iran." here, every move that president obama makes on syria is seen through the prism can israel trust obama to stop iran's nuclear weapons program? it's especially relevant this weekend, the 40th an verse of the 1973 yom kippur war when syria and egypt launched a surprise attack against israel. the american president back then ordered weapon airlift that helped save the jewish state. based on president obama's handling of the syrian crisis, how confident are israeli officials now that he will stop iran from making nuclear weapon? shimon she haver is an israeli political reporter. >> they are not going to attack president obama. >> what

we're also going to check this with margaret warn frer egypt, and martin fletcher is going to bring us a piece from israel about the natural gas discoveries offshore. what that means for israel and possibly the entire region. on sunday we have a fascinating profile of steven sondheim, the that jeff brown filed, and kristina ball tony is going to give us a look ahead at a very busy week on capitol hill. >> brown: and to help you watch all those stories, we have a "newshour weekend" user guide with tips on how to dvr the show, and ways you can watch live streaming online; plus, a link to find when it airs on your local station. that's on our homepage. >> woodruff: on monday, tune in or the news and analysis you've come to trust, but with a different look and a bit of history from gwen and me, side by side, as the new co-anchors of the weekday newshour. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thanks for joining us. good night. >> majo