Sitting in front of the television eating Chinese food and watching reruns of “It’s A Wonderful Life” isn’t exactly what young Jews are doing this Christmas Eve.
The metaphors abound. To Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the next president of the Union for Reform Judaism, it’s a gas station. To Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the outgoing president, it’s an anchor. To Stephen Sacks, the incoming chairman of Reform’s board, it’s a supermarket.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said that he should have used a more \”precise term\” when he wrote that congressional ovations for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were \”bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.\”
A pending agreement between the settlers\’ council and the Israeli government will prevent the destruction of the Ramat Gilad outpost in the West Bank.
An Iranian government minister acknowledged that Western sanctions are affecting the Islamic Republic\’s economy.
Vaclav Havel was a friend of the Jews and of Israel, but prominent Jews who mourned his passing this week said the Czech leader’s greatest legacy was his universal message of freedom.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak at a West Bank military base that was vandalized by extreme rightists vowed to stop such attacks.
Mitt Romney would not commit to moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem or to pardoning Jonathan Pollard.
An Iranian nuclear weapon would be a \”red line\” for Israel and the United States, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
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