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Sundown: U.S. Jews Agree That Nuclear Iran Is Bad

Plus Ehud Barak backs settlement freeze, Gilad Shalit writes home, and more

by
Marc Tracy
September 08, 2009

• In advance of Thursday’s National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran in Washington, D.C., major organizations affiliated with the Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, and Orthodox movements together called on American Jews to highlight the urgency of the Iranian nuclear question. [JTA]
• Even though the government he serves in just approved the construction of over 450 new houses in the West Bank, Defense Minister Ehud Barak called a settlement freeze a “national necessity”. [Haaretz]
• Several prominent members of the Israeli left and center are planning a campaign to buttress Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declared support for a two-state solution (and, one suspects, to hold him to it). [ynet]
• The first letter soldier Gilad Shalit wrote since his 2006 capture was obtained by Yediot Ahronot. Only a month in, he reported, “My health is deteriorating daily.” [ynet]
• And if you’re in New York tomorrow night, consider watching Tablet Magazine deputy editor Gabriel Sanders interview Zoë Heller, whose novel, The Believers, depicts a contemporary New York City Jewish family in decline. [Museum of Jewish Heritage]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.