This week in power: Government shutdown, Jews poll, UN reaction, Iran spy

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

Shutdown central
The government shut down this week and it's affecting ” target=”_blank”>wrote Rob Eshman at the Jewish Journal. Others are outraged. “What we should shut down are the hysterics, especially those coming from U.S. Senators who should know better,” said David Suissa, ” target=”_blank”>here. People sounded off, loudly. “The notion that American Jews are eschewing religion so broadly makes me a little sad, or worried for Jewish continuity (or guilty for being part of the problem). But I can’t see myself bringing my daughter to temple every Friday to honor a God I don’t believe in. What’s the solution?” ” target=”_blank”>suggested Douglass Rushkoff at TIME.

Post-UN speech
After last week's United Nations gathering, some people are speculating about what it could all mean for Israel and the U.S., Netanyahu and Obama. “What also needs to stop is the guessing game over Israel's intentions toward Iran. Mr. Obama will not—repeat, will not—conduct a military strike against Iran. Israelis who think otherwise are fooling themselves.” ” target=”_blank”>said Jonathan S. Tobin at Commentary. “Netanyahu would have nothing to gain by downgrading Israel’s most important international relationship to demonstrate his dissatisfaction with the U.S. over Iran, especially when the U.S. is one of the few governments in the world that shares Israel’s view of Iran’s nuclear program. It would be the very definition of a self-defeating act,” ” target=”_blank”>according to reports. “We know that we were responsible for the Holocaust in Hungary. We know that Hungarian state interests were responsible,” he said Tuesday at the opening session of “Jewish Life and Anti-Semitism,” a two-day international conference in Budapest. This same week, Yad Vashem ” target=”_blank”>arrested an Iranian-born spy who had in his possession photographs of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. According to an Israeli press release, he “was plotting to set up a spy network in Israel under the guise of a businessman who marketed services to restaurants and stores.” “A State Department report published in June described Iranian-backed terrorism as having reached a tempo unseen since the 1990s,” he wrote.