This week in power: GOP race, Beck rally, Russell Crowe, Yale

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

Israel and the GOP race
“Israel was absent as a topic during the first Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire” on Monday night, ” title=”http://iowaindependent.com/57294/gingrich-restarts-campaign-on-eve-of-n-h-debate” target=”_blank”>Newt Gingrich spoke to the Republican Jewish Coalition on Sunday night about foreign policy, specifically about Israel. Texas Gov. Rick Perry came under fire this week for a proposal for a Day of Prayer this summer that ” title=”http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/opinion_who_wants_to_be_president_20110613/” target=”_blank”>said Douglas Bloomfield at the Jewish Journal. “Prerequisites for running for president: a huge ego wrapped in a layer of thick skin.”

Rumored Beck Israel rally participants
On Wednesday, ” title=”http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/weigel/archive/2011/06/15/lieberman-bachmann-palin-attending-big-beck-rally-in-jerusalem-romney-isn-t.aspx” target=”_blank”>said Slate’s Dave Weigel. What should we expect? “The rally in Israel will likely be even less political and more faith-oriented. Foreign policy is not the focus,” ” title=”http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110615/ts_yblog_thecutline/schultz-slams-beck-for-pointing-at-president-obama-during-gun-segment-glenns-gop-guest-list-for-jerusal” target=”_blank”>reported Yahoo! News.

Russell Crowe’s controversial tweets
Late last week, the actor took to Twitter to express support for a San Francisco proposal to ban circumcision. “Circumcision is barbaric and stupid. Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that GOD requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are perfect,” ” title=”http://blog.chron.com/celebritybuzz/2011/06/roth-defends-crowe-for-a-jewish-joke/” target=”_blank”>just a joke at the expense of the media. But the whole thing rubbed some people the wrong way. “Crowe flaunts breathtaking asininity,” ” title=”http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/yale_latest_gift_to_anti_semitism_MVRL7G363U30EcMrxe15UM” target=”_blank”>according to the New York Post. “If Yale doesn’t want it, Washington should grab the institute before it goes anywhere else,” ” title=”http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=224374″ target=”_blank”>said Caroline B. Glick in The Jerusalem Post. “Yale’s decision to close YIISA indicates that the piecemeal approach is not effective. One institute cannot impact the virulent faculty hostility to Jewish related issues on campuses like Yale.” Yes, this was a mistake, but it’s not too late to turn back now, ” title=”http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/50192/david-mamet-profound-taint-antisemitism-uk” target=”_blank”>interview with the Financial Times, the renowned playwright discussed the “ineradicable taint of antisemitism” in British society. “Mamet’s second act has just begun. We’ll have to see how the drama plays out to the end,” ” title=”http://100gf.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/david-mamet-claims-there-is-a-profound-taint-of-anti-semitism-in-britain/” target=”_blank”>said one blogger. “Anti-Semitism has certainly been a key part of the literary tradition in Britain and elsewhere for many centuries.” However, that is a separate issues from what’s happening in the Middle East; Mamet wants you to believe they’re tied together. In truth, “Anti-Semitism remains a major part of the world today, and it is damaging and degrading. But it does not remotely explain what is happening in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”