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Daily Briefing

Friday, June 12, 2009

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Featured Stories Can Bibi and Obama make it work? President Obama speaks by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the Oval Office on June 8, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) Are Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu trapped in a doomed marriage or simply working out the kinks? Perhaps George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon can teach them something. Read more » National Jewish burial society tries to stem increased cremation With cremation on the rise and more Jewish cemeteries accepting ashes for burial, a national organization of Jewish burial societies is trying to promote traditional in-ground burial among liberal Jews. Read more » Cuban Jews ambivalent about possible thaw in U.S.-Cuba ties Faced with the prospect of eased U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba, Jews in Cuba do not expect much to change in the near future. Read more » Editors' Picks Layoffs and pay cuts The Forward looks at which CEOs are sharing the pain in the form of pay cuts as they lay off large numbers of staff at their respective Jewish organizations. Ahmadine-who? As Israeli officials and Jewish groups make the case that it doesn't really matter who wins Friday's Iranian presidential election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gets left out of a high-profile advocacy ad. What should Bibi say? A supporter and an opponent of creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza offer their advice to Benjamin Netanyahu about what he should say in his speech on Sunday. JTS getting first woman chair, Kekst stepping down After 18 years, Gershon Kekst is stepping down as chairman of the Conservative movement's flagship institution. His successor will be Goldman Sachs executive Abby Joseph Cohen, the first woman to hold the position. ©2008 JTA, Inc. Reproduction of material without written permission is strictly prohibited. To unsubscribe, click here.

Cuban Jews ambivalent about possible thaw in U.S.-Cuba ties

Faced with the prospect of eased U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba, Jews in Cuba do not expect much to change in the near future. Read more »

Editors' Picks

Layoffs and pay cuts The Forward looks at which CEOs are sharing the pain in the form of pay cuts as they lay off large numbers of staff at their respective Jewish organizations.

Ahmadine-who? As Israeli officials and Jewish groups make the case that it doesn't really matter who wins Friday's Iranian presidential election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gets left out of a high-profile advocacy ad.

What should Bibi say? A supporter and an opponent of creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza offer their advice to Benjamin Netanyahu about what he should say in his speech on Sunday. Breaking News A majority of Israelis think Israel should not agree to a complete freeze on West Bank settlement construction, a new poll showed. Rev. Jeremiah Wright said he misspoke when he said Jews are keeping him from talking to President Obama; he meant Zionists. New York City is investigating how a well-connected inmate was able to hold a lavish bar mitzvah in prison. An Israeli lawmaker threatened that the Jewish Agency would lose its special relationship with the Israeli government if it does not accept Natan Sharansky as chairman. A former Pentagon analyst who pled guilty to passing secret information to two former AIPAC staffers had his sentence drastically reduced. The American Jewish Committee set up a memorial fund to benefit the family of the security guard killed Wednesday at Washington's Holocaust museum. The father of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit gave Jimmy Carter a letter to deliver to his son. George Mitchell said the United States supports the creation of a Palestinian state "as soon as possible." Iran will not allow the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to install surveillance cameras at a nuclear site. The man accused of leading the gang that kidnapped and killed French Jew Ilan Halimi was expelled from court Thursday after throwing shoes. Two sisters arrested in Lebanon for having Israeli passports were released and sent to Israel. A note was discovered in the car of the Holocaust museum shooter declaring that President Barack Obama was "created" by Jews and does what his "Jew owners tell him to do." Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed resolutions Thursday condemning the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. A 15-year-old Palestinian boy allegedly was killed by his family after being accused of collaborating with Israel. Some 200 people attended an interfaith gathering Thursday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to mourn the death of security guard Stephen Johns. Rabbi Arik Ascherman, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, was honored by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Three of Ukraine's four billionaires are Jewish, according to the Ukrainian Korrespondent magazine's annual list.