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Sundown: Bibi on The Flotilla Fiasco

Plus Ashton visits Abraham, and more

by
Marc Tracy
August 09, 2010
Netanyahu testifying today.(Ronen Zvulun - Pool/Getty Images)
Netanyahu testifying today.(Ronen Zvulun - Pool/Getty Images)

• Before Israel’s internal Turkel Commission, Prime Minister Netanyahu testified that top Turkish officials were uninterested in cooperating to stop the Gaza Flotilla. [NYT]

• Ashton Kutcher traveled to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, drawing the ire of the left-wing blogosphere. He was in the area as a guest of the Kabbalah Center of Tel Aviv, drawing the ire of everyone else. [Promised Land]

• Britain’s chief rabbi said he was “dismayed” by Prime Minister David Cameron’s comparison of Gaza to “a prison camp” in front of a group of Turkish businessmen. [JPost]

• Thomas Friedman encourages “constructive criticism” of Israel that does not shirk from holding it accountable while recognizing the realities of its regional context. [NYT]

• An important rabbi in the Religious Zionist movement banned overdrawing from bank accounts, something to do with not collecting interest. Plus you know they always get you with those fine-print fees. [Ynet]

• Vox Tablet interlocutor Francine Prose calls Hans Keilson a “genius” and his two reissued novels “masterpieces.” (Adam Kirsch reviewed them last week.) [NYT Book Review]

Today is the 15th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death.

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