Year In Review from page 43
for the opposition party.
more international action to stop the
Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
> Tel Aviv kicks off its centennial celebra-
tions.
> As the health care reform debate heats
up, Jewish organizations back the Obama
administration on several key points,
including the creation of a government-
run public insurance option and pushing
for measures that would help the rapidly
aging Jewish community.
MAY
> The U.S. government moves to drop
charges against two former AIPAC staffers
charged with passing classified informa-
tion to Israel.
> During speeches at the annual AIPAC
policy conference in Washington, Vice
President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. John
Kerry pledge to confront Iran and protect
Israel, but call on the Jewish state to freeze
settlements. In the ensuing weeks, U.S.-
Israel tensions mount as President Obama
and other administration officials also
press for a settlement freeze.
> Pope Benedict XVI visits Israel and
the West Bank. In Bethlehem, he calls for
a Palestinian homeland, leaves an inter-
faith conference in Jerusalem early after
a Palestinian cleric accuses Israel of kill-
ing women and children and destroying
mosques and prompts disappointment
among some Israelis for remarks on the
Holocaust seen as insufficient.
> President Obama and Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold their
first meeting at the White House. Obama
talks of putting a timetable on U.S. diplo-
matic outreach to Iran over nuclear weap-
ons while also emphasizing that Israel
needs to take "difficult steps:' such as
freezing settlements. Netanyahu stresses
his interest in achieving peace, but stops
short of endorsing a two-state solution.
> The first Jewish historical doll in the
American Girl series — a 9-year-old girl
named Rebecca Rubin living on the Lower
East Side in 1914 — goes on sale.
JUNE
> In a speech in Cairo billed as an address
to Muslims worldwide, President Obama
describes Israel and the United States
as sharing an unbreakable bond, then
criticizes Holocaust denial in the Arab
world and the use of the Palestinian issue
to distract Arab populations from other
problems. Obama draws criticism from
some corners of the Jewish community for
reiterating his call for a settlement freeze
and failing to talk tough on Iran. Some
critics claim that the president appears to
embrace the Palestinian understanding of
the Israeli-Arab conflict.
> Alysa Stanton becomes the first
African-American female rabbi after
44 September 17 <. 2009
> With its decision in favor of comedian
Al Franken, the Minnesota Supreme Court
gives the U.S. Senate a 13th Jewish member.
JULY
> Nearly 40 Jewish and evangelical
Christian leaders meet in Washington for
a groundbreaking dialogue session.
The rise of Yisrael Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman is seen in Israel as a sign of
the rightward swing of the Israeli electorate. Lieberman is now facing corruption
charges.
- Photo by Brian Hendler
being ordained by the Reform movement's
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion.
> The United Jewish Communities
decides to change its name to the Jewish
Federations of North America and hires
Jerry Silverman, a key player in raising
tens of millions of dollars for Jewish sum-
mer camps and a former business execu-
tive who helped popularize the Dockers
brand, as its next president and CEO.
> Far-right parties in Europe score sig-
nificant gains in continent-wide elections
for European Parliament.
> A security guard is killed when a gun-
man known for his anti-Semitic beliefs
opens fire at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum in Washington.
> Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet dis-
sident and Prisoner of Zion, is formally
elected chairman of the Jewish Agency for
Israel.
> At the close of a Holocaust Era Assets
Conference in Prague, 46 countries sign
the Terezin Declaration, a nonbinding set
of guiding principles aimed at faster, more
open and transparent restitution of art and
private and communal property taken by
force or under duress during the Holocaust.
> With unrest mounting in Iran over
official claims of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's re-election, U.S. Jewish
organizational leaders call for more
American support for the protesters and
> In a speech at Bar-Ilan University, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
expresses conditional support for the even-
tual creation of a demilitarized Palestinian
state. The Obama administration hails the
speech as "positive movement:' while the
Palestinian Authority condemns it.
> President Obama has his first White
House meeting with Jewish leaders, sitting
down with representatives of 14 organiza-
tions. Jewish leaders offer no direct criti-
cism of his calls for a settlement freeze,
but say he appears to be putting more
pressure on Israel than on the Palestinians
and Arab states. The president says he will
work to change that perception.
> Some 8,000 athletes from around the
world participate in the 18th Maccabiah
Games, including U.S. Olympic swimmer
Jason Lezak, who chooses the so-called
Jewish Olympics in Israel over the World
Championships. Lezak wins four gold
medals, but Israel easily wins the medals
competition.
> Five rabbis are among 44 people
arrested as part of a public corruption and
international money-laundering investiga-
tion in New Jersey that uses a prominent
rabbi's son as an informant. Also charged
are the mayors of several New Jersey cit-
ies and other state politicians, as well as a
Brooklyn man who is accused of acquir-
ing and trading kidneys for transplants.
> Haredi, or fervently Orthodox, dem-
onstrators in Jerusalem turn violent,
protesting the opening of a parking lot on
Shabbat and the arrest of a haredi woman
on charges of child neglect.
> Camps across the U.S. report outbreaks
of the swine flu virus, forcing some to
postpone their openings and others to
implement sweeping measures to screen
new arrivals for signs of the illness.
> The leader of the gang responsible
for kidnapping, torturing and murder-
ing French Jew Ilan Halimi in 2006 is
sentenced to life in prison. Many French
Jews are upset that the trial is held behind
closed doors, as the crime's anti-Semitic
nature was in dispute.
Did Barack Obama's election mean
increasing pressure on Israel?
AUGUST
> A masked gunman attacks a gay com-
munity center in Tel Aviv, killing two
people and injuring a dozen. The tragedy
sparks demonstrations throughout Israel
in solidarity with the victims and the gay
community.
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