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Sundown: Final Hour for Florida Killer

Plus Firth plays Stern, Ayalon goes after J Street, and more

by
Marc Tracy
February 16, 2010

• Numerous ultra-Orthodox rabbis have asked Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to stay the execution of convicted murderer (and religious Jew) Martin Grossman on the grounds that he is mentally challenged and has been a model, remorseful prisoner. As of this publication, however, Grossman is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection in roughly an hour. [Gainesville Sun]

• The Israeli IRS wants supermodel Bar Refaeli, who is incorporated in Singapore and keeps most of her wealth in offshore banks, to pay alleged back taxes. [NY Post]

• British actor Colin Firth has signed on to play Avraham Stern, the leader of the Zionist Stern Gang of Mandatory Palestine, in a Michael Winterbottom film. [Haaretz]

• Even as Ambassador Michael Oren has played nicer with J Street after prior rancor, Israel’s combative Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon went after the dovish American group: “They should not call themselves pro-Israeli,” he said. [Ben Smithl]

• An interesting interview with the head of a new Fatah-affiliated private equity fund that plans to invest in Palestinian businesses. [LAT]

• Prime Ministers Netanyahu and Putin traded pledges: a Holocaust memorial in Moscow, a monument to the Red Army’s World War II exploits in Israel. [JPost]

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