A roundup of the most talked about political and global stories in the Jewish world this week:
Mandela funeral fracas
World leaders gathered for the funeral for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, but one person was missing: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He cited costs of attending as the reason he didn't make it. Still, the decision caused a bit of a stir. “Detractors argue that missing the memorial of a man who championed freedom and brought down apartheid gives fresh fodder to critics who say Israel, too, has constructed an apartheid system and is insincere about reconciling with Palestinians after decades of conflict,” ” target=”_blank”>said Noga Tarnopolsky at Global Post. “Israel was one of a few countries —in addition to the United States — that in the 1970s and 1980s sold weapons to the apartheid regime in South Africa, for which many South Africans have never forgiven Israel.” And it made for a PR nightmare, ” target=”_blank”>said, “People want to say Obama can’t make these moves or he’s not executing. That’s because he ain’t got those connections. Black people don’t have the same level of connections as Jewish people. Black people don’t have the same connection as oil people.” West apologized for the remarks, but the damage has been done. “At a certain point—as much of a fan of Kanye as I am, and as much as I have faith in him as an artist (and a decent human being), it becomes difficult to ignore the depth of his cultural influence, and harder not to ask whether or not he actually knows the power his words can have,” ” target=”_blank”>said Arye Dworken at Heeb.