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CANDLELIGHTING

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THE JEWISH VIEW

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HOLIDAYS

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JUDAISM 101

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{weblog_name} - Rooting For Netanyahu
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It’s official. Likud leader Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu was sworn in as Israel’s Prime Minister earlier this week. Those in America and Israel who are yelling despised much of what Bibi did during Round One in the job from 1996-1999. They remember his stalling the peace process, his poor handling of the “conversion crisis from 1997-1998) and his miserable management of subordinates. Some critics are already deriding Israel’s “most right-wing” government in years. But I’m hoping that a different reading of Bibi’s past performance – combined with what we now hope is his political maturity – may surprise some people. People forget that in 1999 his government fell because he was not right-wing enough for some coalition partners. That is because he first gave up 80 percent of Hebron, one of Judaism’s most sacred cities, and an additional 13 percent… read more