Earlier today I had the opportunity to speak with Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight who is in Israel for the state’s 60th anniversary festivities. While here, Voight joined Chabad-Lubavitch in welcoming children evacuated from the devastated Chernobyl region of the Former Soviet Union to Israel. I spoke to Mr. Voight about his relationship to the Jewish community, his involvement with Chabad’s Children of Chernobyl campaign, and his affinity for the state of Israel.

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[Update] Here’s video of Jon Voight dancing on the Chabad telethon:

Earlier this week we linked to Gershom Gorenberg’s article on the efforts of a hawkish pro-Israel group to warp articles in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia to reflect the group’s views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Well, it seems there may be more to the story. HonestReporting, another pro-Israel media watchdog, says it’s really Palestinian groups that are messing around on Wikipedia. Here’s their report on the matter.

Last night, the President’s Conference reached its climax with an event celebrating the historic relationship between Israel and the United States. In their successive addresses, which were interspersed with musical and (more questionable) dance performances, President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and the event’s chair, American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, celebrated the uniqueness of the U.S.-Israel relationship, expressed gratitude for America’s commitment to Israeli security, and lavished praise upon U.S. President George W. Bush, the evening’s guest of honor, whom they characterized as the most supportive U.S. President Israel has ever known. Their remarks, which were met with thunderous applause, preceded a brief address by President Bush, who linked the destinies of the U.S. and Israel through their shared commitment to bringing peace to the Middle East. The full audio of each speech follows.

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Several recent stories shine a light on the challenges and opportunities of the new YouTube-era environment that Israel and its advocates are operating in.

Ha’aretz has a report today on the Israeli Consulate in New York arranging to have videos played on the jumbo screens in Times Square of celebrities sending Independence Day greetings.

“We’re aware of the influence that [the celebrities] filmed in the clip have on so many people around the world,” said Asi Shariv, Israel’s Consul General in New York. “Their connection with Israel is an important part of our efforts to tell the Israeli story to a young, Western audience that does not take an interest in the [Mideast] conflict.”

Of course, all sides have access to video and the means to distribute it on the Internet. For example, Ha’aretz also is reporting that on Tuesday the human rights group B’Tselem unveiled video footage showing an Israeli soldier “firing a rubber-coated bullet at an Israeli protester at close range, during a protest against the separation fence in Bil’in two months ago.”

“The shooting,” according to Ha’aretz, “appears to violate IDF regulations, which state that rubber bullets may be fired from no closer than 40 meters.”

And, of course, plenty of video of the incident in question is up on YouTube.

This video has a quick shot at the end of the wounded Israeli protester on a stretcher…

And then there are user-generated Web sites like Wikipedia, where a well-coordinated stealth campaign can tilt seemingly unbiased information one way or the other. The problem is that Internet-based campaigns coordinated via e-mail leave a paper trail — a point hammered home by Gershom Gorenberg’s recent column in the American Prospect about pro-Palestinian activists exposing an alleged attempt by CAMERA to train supporters to infiltrate and influence the Wikipedia editing process.

Earlier today, JTA correspondent Dina Kraft had the opportunity to speak with Stuart Eizenstat, who served as an adviser, undersecretary and ambassador under the Clinton and Carter administrations. Mr. Eizenstat discussed Holocaust restitution in Israel, the challenges posed by Iran’s nuclear program, and Jimmy Carter’s recent visit with Hamas.

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I bumped into Alan Dershowitz by the espresso bar earlier today and asked him how he was enjoying the conference so far. Here’s what he had to say…

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Nathan Englander today at the President’s Conference

JTA’s Israel correspondent Dina Kraft speaks with author Nathan Englander who participated in a panel discussion on Jewish literature today at the President’s Conference in Jerusalem.

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President Shimon Peres opens his conference Tuesday in Jerusalem

I’m in Israel for “Facing Tomorrow,” a conference hosted by President Shimon Peres on the future of Israel and the Jewish people.

3,500 attendees from around the world have gathered at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center for three days of panel discussions on subjects ranging from Jewish literature to the impact of globalization on Israel’s economy.

Guests include dignitaries representing 15 nations, among them the U.S., the U.K., Spain, and the former Soviet Union; Jewish business and organizational leaders, such as Google CEO Sergey Brin, News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, and World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder; as well as Jewish cultural figures, such as philosopher Bernard Henri Levy and author Nathan Englander.

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Ha’aretz reports on one community center’s quest to bring cheerleading to Israel:

It is afternoon in the large hall of the Kiryat Rishon Community Center, as about 20 high-school girls in tight leotards are practicing acrobatic exercises on the floor. As the music comes on, they break into dance steps that will be integrated into the somersaults and cartwheels. This is what a warm-up session looks like at the Cheer Dance Academy (CDA - Hamerkaz Hayisraeli Le’idud), the only place in Israel that trains girls in cheerleading - which combines dance, acrobatics and calisthenics.

Jay Lefkowitz, a onetime Bush adviser, argues in the New York Sun today that the president’s faith in democracy and belief in the sanctity of life have produced a revolutionary U.S. policy benefiting both Israel and the Palestinians:

But while Mr. Bush’s record on Israel surely has not been the product of any political debt he may have owed the Jewish community, he nonetheless proceeded to remake America’s Arab-Israeli policy in the most profound way. The signal event was his Rose Garden speech on June 24, 2002. The president called for establishment of a Palestinian state, but set reform and democracy and abandonment of terror as conditions for establishment of the state: “It is untenable for Israeli citizens to live in terror. It is untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation. … My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security.”

Never before has a president articulated as forcefully that a Palestinian State was an objective of our foreign policy. As I listened to the president deliver the speech and heard him speak about it in the subsequent days, I realized that the president had turned United States policy on its head — in a way that was not only sympathetic to Israel, but also pro-Palestinian.

Over at the Washington Post, Michael Abromowitz reports on critics who say that despite Bush’s good intentions his policies have ultimately been bad for Israel:

Appearing at an Israeli Embassy reception last Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state, Vice President Cheney voiced a sentiment that is common among many American Jews, evangelicals and others. “Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than the 43rd president of the United States,” he said.

Yet as President Bush prepares to return to Jerusalem this week to celebrate the milestone, that assessment is the subject of fierce debate both here and Israel. Few doubt the sincerity of Bush’s passion, which has translated into unprecedented backing for Israeli self-defense and the most clearly stated presidential commitment to protect Israel if it is attacked.

But from left to right, Bush also faces criticism for pursuing Middle East policies that, many diplomats and analysts believe, have left Israel more threatened than when he assumed office in January 2001.