Where’s Bibi? His views, photos go to work on Web

He's baaack.

Yes, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's most meteoric politician, is back from the wilderness after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Ehud Barak -- who, in turn was tossed out on his ear by the current prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

Netanyahu is now nipping at Sharon's heels, itching to get back into the fray, and his loyal followers are nipping right along with him, which is the reason for this Web site with the hard-to-forget URL: http://www.netanyahu.org

There's no mistaking this for anything but a campaign site by ardent supporters eager to see the former prime minister return to politics and wreak vengeance on his political adversaries.

Naturally, there is a collection of Netanyahu's views on critical subjects, especially the Palestinians and the peace process. There's also a brief biography and collections of news stories on the man Israeli left-wingers love to hate.

There are plenty of pictures of Bibi: with his family, as a child, with famous world leaders, at the Great Wall of China, with Jackie Mason, whose name is hideously misspelled. There are almost as many of his wife.

The site includes stuff in both Hebrew and English on the same page. So even if Bibi isn't your cup of borscht, it's a good place to go and practice your Hebrew.

The site's organization is OK -- no more. It won't win any prizes for Web design, but it does the job. No doubt if Netanyahu begins running in earnest, it will be replaced by something more professional.

The purpose of the site is to "fight the defamation of the former prime minister," the authors tell us, a sentiment that neatly reflects Netanyahu's own suspicious, put-upon political style.

* * *

Speaking of suspicion, a lot of Jews are suspicious that CNN, the cable news behemoth, is less than sympathetic to the Jewish state.

Now there's a Web site devoted to tracking the network's Mideast coverage and reporting on its biases.

CNNWatch opens with a close-up of an eye, leading to the suspicion it's the home page of an ophthalmology organization.

The site is simplicity itself: a collection of news articles about alleged CNN bias in Mideast coverage, snail-mail and e-mail addresses of network executives, as well as their bios, and advice on "how to write a GREAT letter to CNN executives."

There are also forms you can use to join the group of CNN watchers who monitor the network's performance. You can read what other watchers have to say -- but only after you join the Yahoo! club that serves as the site's home base.

A "who we are" section reveals only this: "What started off by two women on AOL talking about their frustrations of the biased reporting of CNN has developed into an international WATCH of CNN and the Time/Warner Corporation."

The site isn't pretty. But there's plenty here to keep CNN detractors happy, and maybe enough to generate a little pressure on the media giant. The site is at http://www.cnnwatch.org

* * *

It's the holy grail of Jewish organizations: Every last one of them is desperate to reach out to young people, and most see the Web as the best route to young hearts and minds.

Now the Reform movement is taking another crack at it with a new kind of Webzine aimed at college students.

The idea of Etone is this: The Reform movement supplies the skeleton, and local rabbis fill in much of the content.

The result, supposedly, will be "personalized" newsletters containing basic Jewish features as well as localized information about Jewish resources in both the student's hometown and college town.

Etone isn't up and running yet, but you can get a preview at http://myetone.org.demo If you're a rabbi, you can sign up to use the service once it's fully operational.

Only one problem: the demo works only if you check in with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

* * *

If you're a Reform Jew who's hit the ripe old age of 20, check out the movement's improved ClickOnJudaism site at http://www.clickonjudaism.org It's designed to "enable young Jews to explore the possibilities offered by liberal Judaism through points of interest and concern to them."

A weird interface, but lots of thought-provoking articles on the search for spirituality and meaning. Since this is the Reform movement, there's a strong emphasis on community action, as well.