JNS news briefs: September 20, 2012

(JNS.org) Powered by two home runs from San Diego Padres prospect Nate Freiman, Israel built a 7-0 lead en route to defeating South Africa, 7-3, in the first game of the World Baseball Classic’s (WBC) qualifying round on Wednesday in Jupiter, Fla.
Israel will square off next against either Spain or France on Friday, and the winner of the four-team bracket advances to the next phase of the international tournament in March 2013/
Before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish state finalized its 28-man roster for the WBC. The group is headlined by former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielders Shawn Green and Gabe Kapler.
Second baseman Josh Satin, currently part of the New York Mets’ minor league system, is the team’s only other player with MLB experience, “Team Israel” said in a Sept. 14 press release. Green and Kapler are both player/coaches, and former MLB catcher Brad Ausmus manages the squad.
Israel is among 16 countries participating in the qualifying stage of the tournament.
“[Israel’s Word Baseball Classic team] impacts the North American and Israeli Jewish communities more than the athletes themselves,” Kapler told JNS.org last year. “Those people are going to be psyched. It’s worth dreaming about what could happen because this creates momentum and excitement, which in turn gets more people who want to participate [in the Israeli team’s efforts].”
This is Israel’s first WBC qualifier. The team is mainly comprised of American-born Jewish players who are allowed to compete because they can claim Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. Three of the team’s 28 players were born in Israel—Shlomo Lipetz, Alon Leichman and Dan Rothem—and 10 are from the Los Angeles area.
While baseball was introduced to Israel in 1927, it has been slow to catch on. Currently, between 1,000 and 3,000 Israelis play in organized baseball or softball leagues, according to the Times of Israel. A number of attempts have been made to grow the sport in the Jewish state, including the Israel Baseball League (IBL), an experiment that ended after one year in 2007.
If Israel advances past the qualifying round, several current Jewish MLB stars may join the team, including Chicago White Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, and Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler.
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(JNS.org) Iran has been systematically providing false information to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) because it has been infiltrated by intelligence agencies keeping tabs on Iran’s nuclear program, Israel Hayom reported, citing the the Al-Hayat newspaper.
Iranian Atomic Energy Vice President Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, who heads the country’s delegation taking part in the 56th session of the agency in Vienna, made the revelation in an interview with Al-Hayat.
“The IAEA says it gets its information from the intelligence services belonging to the member states, and we monitor and followed up seven years ago activities of the British foreign intelligence service [MI6], which gathered information for people, which then exposed [Iranian nuclear scientists] to assassination at the hands of Zionist intelligence agents. Some of the information provided by the agency related to these events. For our part, we sometimes gave false information to protect our nuclear sites and our interests. This inevitably misled other intelligence agencies,” Davani said.
On Thursday, Israel said it would not attend a conference on the creation of a nuclear-free Middle East scheduled to take place in Finland.
“This announcement was made on Wednesday in Vienna during a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency by the director of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Shaul Chorev,” spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.

(JNS.org) The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) on Wednesday kicked off the television phase of its “My Buyer’s Remorse” advertising campaign, featuring the testimony of Jews who regret voting for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

Appearing on broadcasts in the critical election swing states of Florida, Ohio, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, the ads will run through Nov. 5. New Jersey voter Michael Goldstein—the subject of the first ad—says Obama’s May 2011 statement that the 1967 borders should be a starting point for Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations “really changed” his mind about the president, then goes on to cite economic reasons for his change of heart.

“The jobs numbers are terrible, the unemployment rates are as high or higher than they were when Obama took over,” Goldstein says.
RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said in a statement that the ads “give voice to the nagging doubts that many Jewish voters feel about President Obama.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), however, released a statement before Rosh Hashanah including Obama in its praise for the “close and unshakeable partnership between the United States and Israel.” AIPAC said U.S.-Israel security cooperation “has reached unprecedented levels.”

“President Obama and the bipartisan, bicameral congressional leadership have deepened America’s support for Israel in difficult times,” the pro-Israel lobby said.

The RJC’s effort to sway Jewish voters in swing states has also included billboard ads reading “Obama…Oy Vey!!”

Israel’s Davis Cup tennis team beats Japan and moves to world’s final 16

(Israel Hayom/exclusive to JNS.org) After falling short the past two years, Israel’s Davis Cup tennis team defied expectations over the weekend and advanced to the World Group stage of the annual tournament with a dramatic 3-2 road victory over Japan.

“This team is doing amazing things,” said team member Andy Ram upon returning from Japan. Israel’s team includes Ram, Weintraub, Dudi Sela and Jonathan Erlich, and it captained by Eyal Ran.

The World Group stage of the tournament includes the final 16 teams. The draw for the 2013 World Group stage was held on Wednesday in London. Israel will face France on the road in the first round in February 2013. The last time Israel reached the World Group stage in 2010, it fell 4-1 to Chile in the first round.

The Davis Cup team put itself in Israel’s sports history books in 2009 when it reached the World Group semifinals before losing 4-1 to eventual champion Spain. Amir Weintraub secured Israel’s 3-2 victory over Japan in Tokyo on Sunday, beating Go Soeda 6-3, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 in the fifth and decisive rubber game between the two teams.

“Everyone gave it their all, they are all heroes,” Ran said. “This is a major achievement for Israeli tennis. After an amazing day like this, we definitely deserve to be in [the World Group stage].”

Israeli technology fuels new fish farm that is Europe’s largest

(JNS.org) Israeli amnon, known also as St. Peter’s Fish or Israeli (blue) tilapia, is quickly becoming a staple fish around the world, just like Israel’s fish-farming technology.

Last week, Poland opened the largest fish farm in Europe, taking advantage of Israel’s high-tech methods that allow farmers to generate a larger amount of fish. Since tilapia tend to eat weeds, algae, and other underwater plants, growing them can also help keep rivers, lakes and even municipal water supplies clean.

The Polish fish farm was opened by the Israeli company AquaMaof Aquaculture Technologies, which has developed a system that breeds fish under controlled temperature conditions in any weather or climate environment, cutting energy costs by some 70 percent, the company said, according to the Times of Israel. The 24,000-square-foot facility should produce about 1,200 tons of tilapia annually.

This new development comes in the wake of an agreement signed in August between Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and representatives from Kenya and Germany for a mutual project to use fish farming technology to purify Lake Victoria, thereby providing clean water to millions of people. “While Iran tries to get a foothold in Africa with weapons, bombs and terror, Israel brings Africa progress, as well as agricultural and economic humanitarian aid,” Ayalon told Yediot Achronot.
“This is just an example of the difference between the fanatic ayatollahs’ regime and the Israeli democracy.”

(JNS.org) Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly magazine, published several provocative cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, raising renewed fears of rioting by Muslims against Western targets, Reuters reported.

The cover of the magazine depicts Mohammed being pushed in a wheelchair by an Orthodox Jew, while several more cartoons inside depict Mohammed naked, including one that shows his genitals.

The French government said it was temporarily shutting down premises this coming Friday, including embassies and schools in 20 countries, amid fears that they could become targets of renewed protests or terrorist attacks. Police were also deployed to protect the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo.

Dr. Richard Prasquier, head of the French Jewish umbrella Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF), said in a statement condemning the cartoons that “critics of religion must themselves heed criticism—not of their principles but of the timing of their actions,” given the recent unrest in the Arab world linked to the Innocence of Muslims film that demeaned Mohammed.

The editor of Charlie Hebdo, Stephane Charbonnier, pointed out the hypocrisy of the situation, “We have the impression that it’s officially allowed for Charlie Hebdo to attack the Catholic far-right but we cannot poke fun at fundamental Islamists,” said Charbonnier.

He said “everyone is driven by fear, and that is exactly what this small handful of extremists who do not represent anyone want—to make everyone afraid, to shut us all in a cave.”

Charlie Hebdo has a reputation of being provocative and asserting its right to free speech. Its Paris offices were firebombed last November after it published a caricature mocking Mohammed, and Charbonnier has been guarded by police ever since.

Shrinking Jewish communities seek boost through offering incentives

(JNS.org) In the face of aging and shrinking ranks, many Jewish communities throughout the country have begun to offer financial incentives to attract new members, the New York Times reported.

Advertised in Jewish publications or through word of mouth, synagogue relocation bonuses have included partial down payments on homes, discounted yeshiva tuition, repayment of student loans and even free memberships to the Jewish dating Web site JDate.

Stephen Savitsky, chairman of the board of the Orthodox Union, praised the practice as a “proven model” saying, “Today, if you don’t have a financial program in the greater New York area, then you’re probably at a competitive disadvantage.”

Dr. Steven M. Cohen, director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at New York University, sees the financial incentives as being rooted in Jewish practice and anxiety over demographics. “Being Jewish is not an individual spiritual practice,” Cohen said. “There’s a free-floating anxiety about the future of Jews and whether there are enough children and grandchildren to continue these Jewish communities.”

Despite the practice becoming more prevalent, some have voiced their skepticism. “Intrinsic motivation will be far more enduring than external incentives,” said David Bryfman, director of a Jewish education program in New York.

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Preceding provided by JNS.org and reprinted with permission