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Sundown: Against The New Maccabees

Plus Mitt is menschy, Jews of the Corps, and more

by
Marc Tracy
December 20, 2011
A West Bank mosque vandalized last week.(Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty Images)
A West Bank mosque vandalized last week.(Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty Images)

• Shlomo Riskin, rabbi of Efrat, writes an impassioned letter to “the new Hasmoneans, the Maccabees who do not bow their heads before the Hellenizing priest establishment”—that is, the settlers who have instigated attacks on mosques and IDF facilities. Must-read. [Haaretz]

• Mitt Romney won’t commit to moving the embassy to Jerusalem and isn’t sure how he feels about commuting Jonathan Pollard’s sentence, and said so to a group of Jewish leaders, who hopefully were able to recognize a mensch when they saw one. [Washington Jewish Week]

• The lost Jews of … the U.S. Marines! [WSJ]

• You think I’m mushy about Israel? You should see Lanny Davis! [Ben Smith]

• If you don’t remember Tamir Goodman, you won’t click on this no matter what. If you do remember Tamir Goodman, you’ll click on this no matter what. [D.C. Sports Bog]

• There’s a report that Ryan Braun’s positive tests were caused by treating a legitimate, private medical issue. Which would still technically make him guilty of taking banned substances, but would go a long, long way in the court of public opinion. [Kaplan’s Korner]

Bibi wishes Christians a merry Christmas. A correspondent writes: “Netanyahu knows which side his bread is buttered on. … He’s practically got a Santa suit on.”

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