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Oren Rips
J Street
Special Family Night Performances
(1/29, 2/4, 2/11): All Seats $10
(excl. Premium)
Family 4 - Packs starting at $48*
4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 bags of chips, and 4 soft drink
(*For select performances. Tickets must be purchased in groups of
four. No double discounts. Some restrictions may apply.)
Regular Prices:
$12, $17, $22 & $32 (Premium)
Additional fees may apply.
Groups 15+ Save!
Call (313) 471-3099
Tickets: --*-:::-OlympiaEntertainment.com
Box Office • ticketmaster
800-745-3000
Detroit Public TV Benefit
Performance on Friday,
February 5 at 7:00 p.m.
For more information, call 248-305-3900
or log onto dptv.org .
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JEWISH NEWS
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28 December 17 • 2009
iN
Washington/JTA
— The Israeli
ambassador to the
United States blasted
J Street, saying the
organization was
Michael Oren
"fooling around with
the lives of 7 million people'
Michael Oren, responding to a ques-
tion during a Dec. 7 appearance before
the United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism's biennial convention,
described the left-wing pro-Israel
group as "a unique problem in that
it not only opposes one policy of one
Israeli government, it also opposes all
policies of all Israeli governments. It's
significantly out of the mainstream,"
the Forward reported.
"This is not a matter of settlements
here [or] there," said Oren. "We under-
stand that there are differences of
opinion. But when it comes to the sur-
vival of the Jewish state, there should
be no differences of opinion. You are
fooling around with the lives of 7 mil-
lion people. This is no joke."
Among the policies Oren pointed to
as problematic were J Street's criticism
of Israel's attack on Gaza last winter,
its refusal to reject the Goldstone
report and its failure to support addi-
tional sanctions on Iran. The same
morning Oren spoke, J Street released
a statement announcing that it now
backed passage of Iran sanctions leg-
islation in Congress.
Oren's remarks were much more
critical than a statement from an
Israeli Embassy spokesman in
October, when Oren declined an invi-
tation to address J Street's inaugural
conference. At that time, the embassy
said it would be "privately commu-
nicating its concerns over certain
policies of the organization that may
impair the interests of Israel:'
J Street executive director Jeremy
Ben-Ami told the Forward that Oren
was misrepresenting J Street's position.
"I don't quite understand how it is
in the State of Israel's interest to look
at J Street as a problem — to write off
an organization that represents a large
number of American Jews," he said.
J Street On Iran
Washington/JTA
J Street has
endorsed congressional legislation
imposing sanctions on Iran's energy
industry.
On Dec. 7, the left-wing pro-Israel
group announced its backing for the
Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions
—
Act of 2009, which U.S. House of
Representatives leaders said lwill be
brought to a vote before the end of the
year.
J Street had diverged previously
from the wide Jewish community con-
sensus on the legislation, not actually
opposing the measure but saying it did
not support additional sanctions while
President Obama was trying to engage
the Iranian regime.
"In the face of Iran's continued defi-
ance of the international community
and its rejection of the most recent
diplomatic offer on nuclear enrich-
ment, we believe the time has come
to pass the Iran sanctions legislation
currently pending in the House of
Representatives," said J Street execu-
tive director Jeremy Ben-Ami.
"Passage of this bill by Congress will
highlight for the Iranian government
the choice they must make between
one path that leads to further isolation
and another that leads to full integra-
tion in the international community
and the ability to develop their econo-
my to its full potential."
The only major pro-Israel group
that is not backing the sanctions leg-
islation is Americans for Peace Now.
The legislation would strengthen the
president's authority to sanction corn-
panies that help Iran import or pro-
duce refined petroleum, which is seen
as potentially having a large impact
on Iran's economy because the coun-
try imports 40 percent of its refined
petroleum.
Hasmoneans Ruled Negev
Jerusalem/JTA
The rule of the
Hasmonean dynasty extended south
to the Negev, new archaeological exca-
vations have found.
"The Hasmonean king Alexander
Jannaeus, great-grandson of
Matityahu, conquered Gaza and the
Negev and for decades prevented the
Nabateans from using the Incense
Road:' said Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini of
the Israel Antiquities Authority in a
Dec. 10 statement.
The Nabateans were an ancient
Semitic people from southern Jordan,
Canaan and the northern part of
Arabia.
"We are talking about a revolution-
ary discovery that will redraw the
maps of the region, which describe
that era and greatly increase the terri-
tory governed by the Hasmoneans into
the heart of the Negev Highlands as
we know it:' said Erickson-Gini, scien-
tific editor of the excavation at Horvat
Ma'agurah, near Sde Boker in the
—