The rise of the U.S. political action group "J Street" has opened a debate on what it means to be "pro-Israel".  J Street, who calls itself "pro-Israel and pro-peace", is often critical of Israel and actively encourages the U.S. government to pressure Israel to increase concessions to the Palestinians.
 
J Street claims that its positions are for the good of the State.  Which raises the question:  When does public criticism of Israel cross the line from pro-Israel to anti-Israel?
 
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the URJ, took up the challenge of defining "pro-Israel" in a speech at J Street's recent convention.

Is defending Israel a sacred duty, or can we yield in the face of overwhelming opposition?
 
Writer Jay Michaelson raised a controversy when he stated that he was "exhausted" of defending Israel against its detractors, claiming (a) it's too much work, (b) Israel is not the mythical place of his dreams, and (c) he despairs of Israel's imperfections.  As a result, his love for Israel "is starting to wane".

 

In a moving response, Daniel Gordis argues that, compared to the burden carried by Israelis defending their country, Diaspora Jews such as Mr. Michaelson have "no right to exhaustion", and to surrender our ideals and the pursuit of justice, even against a rising tide of opposition, is to abandon our principles, our identity and, possibly, the future of the Jewish people.

Natan Sharansky, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency, has confirmed his support for religious pluralism in Israel, demanding that Israel's Religious Affairs Ministry provide funding to the Reform and Conservative communities in addition to Orthodox.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The segregation of men and women on buses serving ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods has become a major controversy in Jerusalem. 

 

The Reform movement's social action arm (Israel Religious Action Centre) has taken a lead role in the protest against segregated buses.  A recent protest involved women who refused to sit at the back of the bus. 

The amazing story of innovation and entrepreneurship in Israel is described in a new book, "Start-up Nation" by Canadian-raised author Dan Senor.  See an interview with the author or read a description of the book.

 

Israeli scientist Ada Yonath, a professor and researcher of structural biology and biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Yonath's work has important implications for antibiotics.

 

She is the first Israeli woman to win a Nobel Prize and the ninth Israeli Nobel laureate. 

Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe'er recently won two tournaments, the Guangzhou International Women's Open in China and the Tashkent Open, both without losing a set.

 

She has previously reached the quarter-finals in the US Open and the Australian Open, and also reached the finals in women's doubles in the Australian Open.
 
Last February Pe'er was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates for a tournament in Dubai, a move strongly condemned in the tennis world.  The Women's Tennis Association fined the tournament organizers and threatened to remove Dubai from the women's circuit. 

Balagan - a mess, confusion, a tangled situation or a disaster.

 

Balagan can be used to describe the state of your room, the relationship with your ex-lover or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

 

Les Rothschild,

President, ARZA Canada 

 

June 17-24, 2010 
 

Learn through study, travel and sight-seeing.

Meet interesting Israelis.

See the work of the IMPJ.

 

Details to follow.