J Street founder Jeremy Ben-Ami talks about Israeli settlements, Peter Beinart and the Obama administration’s decision about who to send to his organization’s upcoming conference in this interview. [The Atlantic]

Foreign Policy puts together a slide show about the shrinking Jewish diaspora still living in the Arab world. [Foreign Policy]

Jamie Levin worries that the economic price of the security offered by the Iron Dome is too high for the Jewish state. [Haaretz]

VentureBeat has named Israeli Ehud Shabtai, the founder of Waze, as one of the “Top Mobile Movers for 2012.” [Globes]

Solomon Schechter School students from Westchester, New York were denied the use of a Torah scroll for their prayer service in an Israeli hotel because they planned to invite both male and female students to participate. [The Jerusalem Post]

Inspired by survivor Naomi Warren, Ballet Austin artistic director Stephen Mills choreographed a dance about the Holocaust. [Haaretz]

“America’s Next Top Model” contestant Esther Petrack is now a private in the Israel Defense Forces. [6 Degrees No Bacon]

“This year, we have a diverse selection of films, including productions from Israel, the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Cambodia,” said Baltimore Jewish Film Festival coordinator Jon Teter. [Baltimore Jewish Times]

Fran Heller reviews the play “Red,” about Mark Rothko’s decision to abandon a profitable job painting murals for a posh restaurant. [Cleveland Jewish News]

Another film festival begins this weekend at the Bama Theatre, with a Food Festival and screening of baseball comedy “The Yankles.” [Tusk Entertainment]