Political tidbits: Obama talks to Abbas, the end of “identity politics”? (UPDATED)

Capital J

By Eric Fingerhut · November 19, 2008

Barack Obama reiterated his support for a Palestinian state in a phone call yesterday with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Yes, he can? First it was his website looking remarkably like Obama's, and now Bibi Netanyahu is linking himself to the president-elect in a speech to the UJC General Assembly and calling himself a candidate of change.
The conservative Powerline blog wonders if it is time for Republican Jews to "throw in the towel."
Elliot Jager in the Jerusalem Post says everyone should stop worrying about Obama's policy towards Israel -- and adds that Israel would be better off if "we knew what we wanted and pulled together."
Rabbi Marc Gellman hopes Obama's election is the end of "identity politics," in Newsweek.
Al Qaida's video response to the election of Obama includes an image of the president-elect wearing a yarmulke and meeting with Jewish leaders, reports the AP.
The Forward talks to two of the new Jewish members of Congress.
"This is the beginning of a new chapter," said Joe Lieberman yesterday after keeping his committee chairmanship, reports the Forward.
Noam Schieber in The New Republic notes Lieberman's admission of "political and personal hurt" when fellow Democrats campaigned against him in 2006.
Some details on the now-underway Minnesota Senate recount from the AP. They'll count 30,000 ballots a day, or one every five seconds for each counter.
Today's the first vote in the John Dingell-Henry Waxman showdown on Capitol Hill, reports Dingell's hometown Detroit News.Here's JTA's look at the clash of House giants.