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Thursday, November 09, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Bush resubmits Bolton
President Bush re-nominated John Bolton, a strong supporter of Israel, as ambassador to the United Nations.
Bush submitted the nomination to the Senate on Thursday, two days after Bolton’s most serious opponent, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), lost his re-election bid.
The nomination would have to be considered during the Senate’s lame duck session in December, when Chafee — a Republican who was strongly opposed to Israeli settlement policy and opposed Bolton because of the ambassador’s closeness to Israel — is still in the Senate.
Additionally, the Senate rarely considers nominations during lame duck sessions.
The opposition of Democrats and some Republicans killed Bolton’s earlier chances, and Bush used his prerogative to make him a recess appointment, which expires Jan. 1.
A number of Jewish Democrats in the Senate have since considered dropping their opposition because of Bolton’s outspoken defense of Israel and his tough stance on Iran.
Warrant issued for former Iranian president
An Argentine judge ordered the arrest of Iran’s former president in the 1994 AMIA Jewish center bombing in Buenos Aires.
President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was one of seven former Iranian government officials and one Hezbollah operative named as accomplices in the attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
Judge Rodolfo Canicoba-Corral issued warrants for their arrests and declared the bombing a crime against humanity, which means the case has no statute of limitations.
Israeli Ambassador Rafael Eldad called the development “highly significant.”
Mehlman to step down?
Ken Mehlman, the Jewish chairman of the Republican Party, reportedly is stepping down.
Mehlman, who has served in the post for two years, is exhausted after the midterm elections, according to media reports.
Republicans lost both houses of Congress in this week’s election, but Mehlman is not blamed, according to the reports.
Mehlman, the second Jewish chairman of the GOP, focused on outreach to minorities that have traditionally favored Democrats, including Jews, blacks and Hispanics.
Israeli youth think Shas rabbi is most powerful
Israelis under 30 think Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is the most powerful person in Israel, a study found.
The Israel Center for Youth Leadership conducted the poll of some 400 youth ages 14 to 30 in the first week of November, together with Smith Research & Consulting.
The spiritual leader of Shas was named by 27 percent of those surveyed; Arkady Gaydamak, Russian Israeli businessman and owner of the Betar Jerusalem soccer team, was ranked second with 20 percent.
Moses was named the greatest Jewish leader of all time, with 48 percent.
Also, 84 percent said that Israeli leaders need extensive military experience.
The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.
World learns from Israel on deserts
Israel is hosting an international conference on how to make deserts bloom.
More than 200 delegates from 30 countries flocked to the Negev town of Sde Boker this week for a desertification conference organized by Ben-Gurion University, Israel’s Foreign Ministry and a United Nations committee to combat desertification.
“Israel’s technical prowess and technological innovation are well known around the globe, and provide us with lessons about how to achieve the potential of the world’s drylands,” the U.N. group’s deputy director, Gregoire de Kalbermatten, said in opening the four-day parley.
http://www.jta.org/
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