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Daily Briefing

Tuesday, May 3, 2011 Donate Now | Share This Email

FEATURED STORY Palestinian unity presents Israel with choice: Go for broke or shun at all costs The skeptics argue that by mending fences with Hamas, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has shown that it's not genuinely committed to peace with Israel. The optimists say a unified Palestinian leadership presents a rare opportunity to make peace with the entire Palestinian people -- in Gaza and the West Bank. Read more » EDITORS' PICKS Defending Reform's designated chief An attack within the Reform movement on the president-designate's Israel-related affiliations is prompting a wave of support for the Reform leader, Rabbi Richard Jacobs, JTA's Sue Fishkoff reports. Victory for J Street Because Rabbi Richard Jacobs, the president-designate of the Union for Reform Judaism, is affiliated with J Street, his appointment may drive Zionist Jews out of the movement and create a schism with mainstream Jewry, critic Carol Greenwald writes in a JTA Op-Ed. Jacobs' path: Hope for Israel lovers In a world in which Jews are walking away from Israel, the path personified by Rabbi Richard Jacobs and others offers Jews troubled by some of Israel's policies the opportunity to shift their alienation to involvement, Rabbi Donniel Hartman writes in a JTA Op-Ed. The kugel conundrum Jewish food is awful, James Beard Award-winning food writer Josh Ozersky writes in Time magazine -- that's difficult to explain, Ozersky says, since Jews are obsessed with food. Consummate politician A master of political theater, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner has leveraged his strong liberal opinions, New York attitude and willingness to go head to head with Republicans on cable TV to fill a void in the Democratic Party, Moment Magazine writes. Sitting down with Moshe Kantor Russian billionaire Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, in a Q&A with Haaretz says Jews should "live everywhere," and sounds off on aliyah and anti-Semitism. The Eulogizer: Ira Cohen and Cyrus Harvey JTA's Appreciation column remembers avant-garde poet Ira Cohen and eclectic entrepreneur Cyrus Harvey. Deborah Lipstadt and the Eichmann trial The anniversaries of the start of the Eichmann trial and the day David Irving sued author Deborah Lipstadt for accusing him of denying the Holocaust coincide. Lipstadt blogs at MyJewishLearning.com. JEWISH IDEAS DAILY Sponsored Content Hamas-Fatah: Looking for the Red Lines How can Western governments tell whether the pending reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas will conduce to progress in the Middle East? Herewith, a guide. Rea

BREAKING NEWS Israel's Supreme Court has postponed the date former President Moshe Katsav will begin serving his prison sentence on rape and sexual assault convictions. A bipartisan slate of U.S. lawmakers urged U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to shelve the Goldstone report. Canada's staunchly pro-Israel Prime Minister Stephen Harper was re-elected by a wide margin. Palestinian leaders are blaming Jewish settlers for a fire in a West Bank mosque. Family members of a man killed by Palestinian police at Joseph's Tomb prayed at the West Bank site in a visit that ended with riots. President Obama in his Holocaust Remembrance Day message called for the care of the last survivors of the Holocaust and their rescuers. Two top U.S. State Department officials are in the Middle East discussing peace negotiations and refugees. Holocaust survivors and members of the public are reading the names of Holocaust victims at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Renowned Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim will present a "peace concert" in the Gaza Strip. A New Jersey lawmaker, Rep. Chris Smith, singled out Louis Farrakhan as an example of how anti-Semitic rhetoric can have grave consequences.