Britannia Radio

Breaking News President Obama said the United States would have been "putting an imprimatur on something we just don't believe" if it had participated in the Durban II conference. Jewish leaders applauded decisions by Germany and New Zealand to skip the Durban II conference now underway in Geneva. Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland for consultations to protest a high-level Swiss meeting with Iran's president. On the eve of a major U.N. anti-racism conference, pro-Palestinian activists brainstorming on how to advance the so-called “Durban strategy” advocated taking Israel to court. Thousands of people marked the opening of a Holocaust museum in Skokie, Ill. An alternate Durban conference was held in Geneva. The U.S. State Department released three statements from its Middle East envoy emphatically affirming support for Palestinian statehood. A new survey shows that anti-Semitism rose sharply in early 2009 after a decrease in 2008. A former CIA director asked for a wiretap on a Jewish congresswoman after she allegedly agreed to intervene on behalf of two indicted former AIPAC staffers. Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is not a pre-condition for holding peace negotiations. Israel's defense minister told Benjamin Netanyahu that he must present his own peace initiative to the United States and the Arab world. Israeli President Shimon Peres might be the first leader to meet President Obama at the White House, according to reports. Natan Sharansky is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's choice to head the Jewish Agency. A new initiative will require all Israeli students to visit Jerusalem at least once during their school years. Anti-Semitic graffiti was found on several synagogues in Norfolk, Va. An Israeli human rights organization released a video of a Palestinian protest at the West Bank security fence in which a protester was killed. A car bomb exploded in a residential area of Tel Aviv, according to reports. Ehud Olmert's prostate cancer is worsening, tests have shown. The oldest living Nobel Prize winner kicked off celebrations for her 100th birthday at a special ceremony. A Holocaust monument was vandalized in southern Ukraine. Jewish and Muslim leaders in Ukraine agreed to hold an interfaith conference later this year. Israel is "coping relatively well" with the current economic crisis, the Bank of Israel governor said. The National Football League moved up the start time for a New York Jets home game to accommodate Jewish fans celebrating the High Holidays. A Berlin theater will stage the first German production of the musical "The Producers," which features a singing and dancing Hitler.