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Sundown: Pollard Gets New Advocate

Plus the first step on Iran is acceptance, and more

by
Marc Tracy
October 13, 2010
The Iranian nuclear reactor at Bushehr.(IIPA via Getty Images)
The Iranian nuclear reactor at Bushehr.(IIPA via Getty Images)

• Lawrence Korb, who had been an assistant secretary of state at the time of Jonathan Pollard’s conviction of spying for Israel, reportedly wrote President Obama arguing that Pollard’s life sentence is too harsh. [JPost]

• President Obama’s incoming national security adviser, Tom Donilon, has close ties to pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC. (Also, his wife is Mrs. Biden’s chief-of-staff.) [JTA]

• Barry Gewen argues that the necessary first step in the debate over bombing Iran is to acknowledge that bombing can, at most, merely delay nuclear capability. [Entanglements]

• A top player in the Palestine Liberation Organization said he would consider recognizing Israel as a Jewish state—the precondition du jour—assuming “Israel” is confined strictly to the pre-1967 borders. [Haaretz]

• Gary Rosenblatt, editor of New York Jewish Week, weighs in on the New Jersey Jewish Standard same-sex announcements controversy; Andrew Silow-Carroll calls him out on copping out. [JustASC]

• Interesting personal essay from a former Haaretz night editor about how the Second Intifada irrevocably changed his politics. [972]

They’re rescuing the miners! Here’s Phish’s “Buried Alive.”

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