From the Editor:

One of the greatest frustrations in the otherwise exciting work of editing a weekly E-Alert is having news break immediately after your deadline, and then having to wait seven days before addressing it.  Remember Arlo Guthrie in “Alice’s Restaurant” waiting while the melody he was strummin’ on his “gee-tar” got around to where he could begin singing the words?  It’s a little like that.

It’s been a full week since Prime Minister Netanyahu presented his new government coalition to the Knesset.  Since then, little has happened save for Avigdor Lieberman’s undiplomatic debut on his first day as Israel’s top diplomat, loudly proclaiming that Israel would not abide by the U.S. - brokered Annapolis agreement. 

To convey a flavor of how Israel’s punditry has reacted to the new team in town, we’ve taken a sample of views from left, right and center.  The listing below is in alphabetical order.

Wishing you all a Chag Pesach Sameach -- a sweet and joyous Passover.

Rabbi Ira Youdovin

1. Wafa Amr
2. Jeff Barak
3. Nahum Barnea
4. Naomi Chazen
5. Menachem Rosensaft
6. Barry Rubin
7. Ira Sharkansky
8. Meyrav Wurmser

Weekly E-Alerts are a new service ARZA provides.  Their purpose is to convey a selection of news and opinion columns to American Reform Jews who may not have time to read the full spectrum of the Israeli and Anglo-American Jewish press. If you would like to receive a weekly copy, sign up now at arzanewsalerts@arza.org! For an archive of past editions click here.