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Bush Pledges "Unwavering Support" for Israel
by Yitzhak Benhorin

American President George Bush promised to take an aggressive stand against the Hamas government, to press for a "difficult decision" to be taken in the UN's Security Council on the Iranian nuclear issue, and to safeguard Israel's security without wavering. Bush said and his government would have no contact with Hamas leaders of the Palestinian government until the group recognizes Israel. "America's commitment to Israel's security is strong, enduring and unshakeable," Bush said in a speech in Washington, speaking to the American Jewish Committee, which is marking its 100th anniversary. (Ynet News)

Additional Headlines

Hamas Brands Convergence a Declaration of War

Israel Foils Plot to Kill Palestinian President

Wolfensohn Steps Down as Quartet Envoy with Dig at Hamas

New Israeli Government Takes Office
by Jeffrey Heller

Israel's new government took office on Thursday under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who pledged it would implement a plan to remove isolated Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank but keep major enclaves forever. In a policy speech to parliament, which later voted 65-49 to approve his coalition government, Olmert also voiced deep concern over Iran's nuclear program, accusing the Islamic Republic of targeting the Jewish state for annihilation. (Reuters)
See also Olmert's Cabinet Includes Some Familiar Veterans, Some New Faces by Dan Baron
Thumbnail biographical sketches of the main players in Israel's new government. (JTA)

Speaking Out on Israel's Behalf
by Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi

In Israel's case that core message is this: Israel is a democracy whose people desperately want a way to make peace, whose leaders have striven to make peace since even before the state came into being and who will continue to seek a way to make peace with its neighbors. But not at all costs. Not at the cost of its very existence as a sovereign Jewish state. Israel's neighbors must want peace too. They must, in truth, acknowledge and accept that the Jewish state has a rightful place in the Middle East. [ The author, founder and president of The Israel Project in Washington, presents "10 suggestions from among many possibilities to help us speak out successfully on Israel's behalf."] (Canadian Jewish News)

Brandeis University Pulls Palestinian Art From Exhibit

Brandeis University officials removed from a school exhibit artwork that depicts injured and bloodied Palestinian children, according to a media report. The images were painted by Palestinian teenagers at the request of an Israeli Jewish student at at the Jewish-sponsored college who wanted to bring the Palestinian viewpoint to campus. But school officials said the paintings were too one-sided. The paintings were removed Saturday, four days into a two-week exhibit at a school library. (AP/Ha'aretz)

Dartmouth: Elie Wiesel to Give Commencement Speech
by Phil Salinger

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel will deliver this year's keynote Commencement address on June 11. Some members of the Dartmouth Jewish community said that the choice was especially significant to Jews on campus, both because of Wiesel's views on Israel and because of what the choice say s for inclusivity at Dartmouth. "Elie Wiesel is an influential and respected voice on Israel," Hillel President Chase Hogle '07 said. "His views on Israel, including his condemnations of the Iranian president's recent despicable remarks, are important for Dartmouth to hear." (Dartmouth Online)

UCLA: Students Celebrate Israel's Birthday
by Sarah Winter

Amid the smell of Israeli food, the aroma of apple-flavored hookah smoke and the sound of a live band from Tel Aviv, students holding Israeli and American flags sang and danced in Bruin Plaza last week to celebrate Israel's 58th birthday. The event, put on by the student group Bruins for Israel, attracted a wide array of students in what event organizers said was a successful celebration of the history and culture of Israel's existence as a state since it was established in 1948. (Daily Bruin)
See also Israeli Independence Celebrated, Debated (Daily Bruin)

Florida State: Israel and Palestine: Will They Ever Find Peace?
by Celeste Eberhardt

David Newman lectured last week on "The Israeli Elections: Implications for the Israel/Palestine Conflict." Newman, a professor at Ben Gurion University in Israel, explained that the lecture was intended to give students information about the current situation with the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Newman said that even though he stated where he stands politically during his lecture, he wanted students to form their own opinions. (FSUNews)

Point-Counterpoint - Is Birthright a Success?

Reevaluate Birthright Israel
by David Forman

Nothing comes easy like water from a faucet. One has to work hard to achieve something of value. When something is given away for free, you can deduce it is not worth much.
To crown someone with the grand Jewish prize of coming to Israel - for being Jewishly apathetic is to tell that person: Judaism is cheap.
American Jews are turning Israel into a Jewish Disney World - instant entertainment that provides momentary pleasure, and little lasting effect. Yet such a quick-fix is supposed to save the Diaspora Jewish community and guarantee its perpetuity.
One wonders what happened to the educational advisors of the Jewish philanthropists behind birthright. The professionals know that lasting Jewish commitment begins at birth and is nurtured throughout one's lifetime.
Would it not have been wiser for wealthy Jews to have invested the approximately $250 million spent on birthright thus far on building academically prestigious Jewish day-schools that go through high school?
One needs to think clearly about how best to secure that Jewish future; and therefore reexamine one's educational and ideological goals, and where best to expend one's financial resources.
Short-term solutions do not solve long-term failures. The influence of birthright israel will remain marginal unless it serves one purpose only: aliya. (Jerusalem Post)

Taglit-Birthright Israel is a Success
by Barry Chazan

The history of the project is not as described in the article. The genesis was not in an act of desperation or because of a student eating a pork sandwich on Yom Kippur.
Rather, it began in creative brainstorming by some significant Jewish leaders which led to intense thinking and planning, and culminated in a bold and daring paradigm shift in the Israel experience field.
The founders of birthright israel believe that Jewish identity formation is not as described in the article - exclusively beginning at birth and dependent on quality Jewish day high schools - but happens in many diverse ways and at many diverse times.
Taglit-birthright israel did what it did when the Israel experience industry was on the verge of tragic collapse. Taglit-birthright israel turned "five lean years" into "five years of plenty."
Taglit-birthright israel's goals are about Jewish meaning-making, Jewish identity, Jewish peoplehood, Israel connection, and if one so chooses, aliya. It is about the future lives of Jews, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel.
So far, the research shows that the positive effect on Jewish attitudes and behaviors lasts at the same high level five years after the trip. Only time will tell, but so far, time is telling a good story.
Birthright israel never claimed to be "The Savior" or the "magic bullet." It did break with the status quo, and created a new model of finding young Jews, bringing them to Israel, and working with communities afterwards to continue their journey, while continually researching what we are doing in order to improve it. (Jerusalem Post)

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