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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting


Jewish World Review March 19, 2010 4 Nissan 5770

Deeply Negative Signals

By Suzanne Fields




http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Joe Biden was late for a very important date in Jerusalem. He had been invited to dinner with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, but he was delayed by taking a long telephone call from Washington. He would have to deliver an American rebuke to the announcement that Israel would build 1,600 new houses for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The timing of the announcement was boorish and insensitive. Dinner got cold, and so did the reception for Biden, who dutifully showed anger.


The episode spoiled dinner for everyone. The prime minister apologized — for the timing of the announcement, not for the new houses. He was embarrassed and no doubt angry at the member of his coalition cabinet who made the announcement.


The incident exposed once more the messiness of democracy in Israel ("put five Jews in a room, and you'll get nine opinions"). Imperfect as it is, Israel nevertheless remains a tiny, messy, democratic oasis in a desert of harsh and abusive governments where democracy is usually something alien and unwanted.


The vice president is the highest-ranking member of the American administration to visit Israel since Barack Obama became president. He was embarrassed, too. But Obama's government seemed to indulge a little glee in administering the diplomatic thrashing of Benjamin Netanyahu, even after he apologized.


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was once driven by public opinion to apologize for giving a nice hug to Suha Arafat after the terrorist's wife accused Israel of deliberately poisoning Palestinian children, wouldn't accept the apology. She said the announcement was "insulting" and sent a "deeply negative signal."


Sending "deeply negative signals" is a thriving industry in the Middle East, and the remarkable verbal abuse by the Obama administration sent a "deeply negative signal," as well, all across the Middle East. Obama — the chief scold in this episode -—cast himself as the big bad wolf threatening to blow down any house made of straw or wood, but something made of brick is a different story.


Iran, for instance, is busy behind a wall that so far looks as permanent and resistant as anything made of brick, working on the stuff of nuclear weapons. The Iranian scientists and the government employing them are sending "deeply negative signals," too.

Letter from JWR publisher


So when Joe Biden spoke to the Israeli public the day after the furor, saying that the United States is determined to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, you couldn't blame the Israelis for taking the words with abundant kosher salt.


Jews in Israel, unlike Jews in this country, see Obama as the least sympathetic president to Israel's vulnerability since Jimmy Carter, who in 1980 was the first Democratic presidential candidate since James M. Cox to win less than 45 percent of the Jewish vote. Jews here ignored the implications of Obama having sat through those 20 years of anti-Semitic sermons by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and voted overwhelmingly for the president. Who can tell what poisonous oaks grow from such acorns?


"We are shocked and stunned at the administration's tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem," said Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, who usually saves such emphatic language for those who speak anti-Semitic remarks. We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States." Neither can I.


No one benefits from the raised level of rhetoric in this controversy, and Democrats, who have enough headaches ahead over the next few months, least of all. They'll need all the money and votes they can get in November, and Jews constitute a rich vein of resources.


A provocative interpretation of why the administration reacted to the initial insult with an insult of its own was offered by John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine, which exerts a strong influence among American Jews. He suggests that the president, rather than Joe Biden, is the man who took the offending Israeli announcement personally.


"It was the president himself who decided the insult required his slapping Israel in the face with a white glove and threatening pistols at dawn," he writes. "This was an emotional response, in other words, in which the president felt free to indulge."


With the damage done, Hillary Clinton, perhaps dispatched by the president to patch things up, softened her own deeply negative signal and paid homage with happy talk about the unshakable bond between the United States and Israel, the shared values, commitment to freedom and more. All true, of course, but from her it sounded mostly of tarnish and brass. Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, put it better: "We cannot afford to unravel the friendship with the United States."

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


Comment on JWR contributor Suzanne Fields' column by clicking here.

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