This week in power: Barak comments, Argentina probe, Birth control revelation, Blood libel cartoon

A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:

Barak interview
Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak said in an interview last week that the Pentagon “had prepared sophisticated blueprints for a surgical operation to set back Iran’s nuclear program should the United States decide to attack — a statement that was a possible indication that Israel might have shelved any plans for a unilateral strike, at least for now,” ” target=”_blank”>he said. “But you cannot build a plan on it.”

Crying about Argentina
Israel is objecting to a joint investigation between Iran and Argentina over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon compared it to “inviting a murderer to investigate the killings he committed.” Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, on the other hand, called the agreement “historic”, saying it guaranteed “the right to due process of law, a fundamental principle of international criminal law.”

Immigrant outrage
Israel admitted this week that it has secretly been giving Ethiopian Jewish immigrants birth-control injections, ” target=”_blank”>said Nathan Jeffay at The Jewish Daily Forward. “This case should be sparking concerns about other areas in policy and society where racism is allowed to pass unchecked,” ” target=”_blank”>according to Raheem Kassam at The Commentator. After the controversy arose, Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns the publication, ” target=”_blank”>said Renee Ghert-Zand at The Jewish Daily Forward. “But that’s not necessarily how things work in some sectors of Israeli society.” This week, Israeli “The Voice” contestant Ophir Ben-Shetreet, 17, has been punished for or showing off her voice on the international singing competition. Her community and school argue that Ophir shouldn't be singing in public at all and that it's immodest and in violation of Jewish law. “I wish her success, not because I think she is doing the right thing or that she hasnt compromised on something a religious girl should not compromise on, but because we are given free will and free choice,”