This Week in power: Terror, Libya, Palin, Katzav

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

Terror returns to Jerusalem
A bomb exploded at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a woman and wounding dozens of others, ” title=”http://www.salon.com/news/israel/?story=/news/feature/2011/03/23/israel_bombing_aggressive_response” target=”_blank”>react “aggressively, responsibly and wisely” to the recent wave of Palestinian violence. These types of attacks are less common than they were a couple years ago, ” title=”http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/03/23/update-jerusalem-bus-bombing-%E2%80%93-1-dead-more-rocket-attacks-on-southern-israel/” target=”_blank”>argues Jonathan S. Tobin at Commentary. “It is merely the latest installment in a decades-long war whose goal is not the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but the destruction of the Jewish state.”

How’s the war in Libya affect Israel?
Obama has been ” title=”http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=213213″ target=”_blank”>says Herb Keinon in the Jerusalem Post. But that doesn’t mean Israel’s in the clear just yet. There’s a growing concern that America could decide to deal Israel a similar blow. “I’m a connoisseur of conspiracy theories, but this one has left me speechless, and strikes me as dangerous hyperbole,” ” title=”http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-21/the-2012-calculus-behind-sarah-palins-trip-to-israel/” target=”_blank”>some are calling a sign she’s contemplating a presidential run in 2012. During her trip, Palin said that Israel should stop apologizing for itself, a statement that “seems to have implicitly criticized the Obama posture on Israel,” ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/keepingthefaith/item/sarah_palin_is_in_israel_20110320/” target=”_blank”>asks Ilana Angel in the Jewish Journal. “The necklace is a weak and pathetic attempt at being one of the tribe.”

Moshe Katzav sentenced
Former president Moshe Katzav was sentenced to seven years in prison for rape, what he called “a mistake” of the courts, ” title=”http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/it-s-disgraceful-that-israel-is-sending-its-president-to-jail-1.351172″ target=”_blank”>said one Israeli resident. These claims stem from the belief that Katzav engaged only in consensual sex, and the plaintiff was heavily influenced by outside organizations to go after the ex-president. The dissenting judge in the decision ” title=”http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/us/23judaism.html?partner=rss&emc=rss” target=”_blank”>reports The New York Times. Jacobs will succeed Rabbi Eric Yoffie as president, pending board approval at a meeting this June. The Conservative movement got a new leader just two years ago, and with some many Jews “alienated by the cost or by the very idea of belonging somewhere,” ” title=”http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial_opinion/editorial/reform_taps_loving_critic” target=”_blank”>says The Jewish Week in an editorial, “is the fact that so many of his colleagues are describing him as having the vision, energy, passion and commitment to take on the challenges he surely will face.”