March 2009 Entries
Last week, a report surfaced in Ha'aretz, one of Israel's leading newspapers, about allegations that Israeli soldiers wantonly killed Palestinian civilians during the Gaza War. The Associated Press picked up those stories and filed a story. Here's an excerpt:
In a stunning political development, Ehud Barak's Labor party voted Tuesday to join Bibi Netanyahu's government. This will have a profound impact on Netanyahu's coalition. In this Jerusalem Dateline, we discuss three significant ways Labor's vote will affect Israel's political future.
On Friday, Benjamin Netanyahu asked Israeli President Shimon Peres for two more weeks in order to form a government. Within the past few days, Netanyahu stirred the political pot here in Israel when he asked Ehud Barak's Labor party to join his government. He offered Barak the strategic post of Defense Minister. One of the reasons Netanyahu gave for the political gambit was that Labor, Likud and the rest of his government in the making would be stronger in facing Israel's biggest menace, Iran.
"Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor
This week we saw two diametrically opposed approaches to Iran between the U.S. and Israel.