December 28, 2012 | 1:12 am

December 28, 2012

Posted by Shmuel Rosner

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visiting American troops at an IDF base in Ashkelon. ( Photo: Reuters)

In-depth

US can walk and chew gum at the same time

Even with its pivot toward the East, the US will still be playing a key role in the Mideast writes Leon Panetta in Gulf News. 

Some argue that instability and turmoil in the Middle East will prevent us from implementing the rebalance. Our new defence strategy and budget makes clear that it will not. The US military is a global force that can walk and chew gum at the same time. Even as America rebalances towards the Asia-Pacific region, it will retain a significant presence in the Middle East to deter aggression and promote stability.

The Women and the Wall Between Israel and the Diaspora

Diaspora Jews must understand the politics behind the treatment of non-Orthodox Jewish rituals in Israel, writes Jonathan S. Tobin in Comementary Magazine.

In the United States, where the Orthodox remain a minority in the Jewish community—albeit the only one that is growing rather than shrinking in terms of population—the treatment of Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel remains a source of anger and puzzlement. To many American Jews, the fact that Reform and Conservative rabbis and congregations in Israel are not given the same support as those of the Orthodox seems to be an expression of pure bias. The relegation of the Women of the Wall to an out-of-the-way section of the Wall known as Robinson’s Arch for their prayer services is viewed as a contradiction of the country’s purpose as the homeland of all of the Jewish people.

Daily Digest

• Times of Israel: Election frenzy hits Israeli university campuses
• Haaretz: Lieberman: 'We are eagerly anticipating' Abbas' resignation
• Jerusalem Post: Poll: Likud-Beytenu in free fall
• Ynet: Opportunity in E1 siege
• New York Times: Iran’s Slowing of Enrichment Efforts May Show It Wants a Deal, Analysts Say
• Washington Post: Retired Gen. Schwarzkopf dies at 78
• Wall Street Journal: Mubarak Is Returned to Hospital

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