Shorts: U.S.

Alleged AIPAC informant promoted

washington (jta) | The Bush administration promoted David Satterfield, an alleged informant for a former AIPAC lobbyist facing trial in a classified information case.

The State Department last week announced Satterfield's promotion to senior adviser on Iraq to Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state. Satterfield was promoted from deputy ambassador to Baghdad.

He is cited in the indictment against Steve Rosen, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's former foreign policy director, and Keith Weissman, its former Iran analyst, as one of three government officials who shared information with Rosen.




Conservative leaders says movement lacks spirituality

new york (jta) | The outgoing leader of the Conservative movement said last week that it is being "impoverished" by a dearth of spirituality.

Conservative Judaism's adherence to halachah lacks a spiritual worldview, said Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, the outgoing chancellor of the movement's Jewish Theological Seminary, said last week in a graduation address in New York City.

Schorsch said what the movement needs in "an age of pampered and promiscuous individuals" is not new slogans but a "vigorous reaffirmation of the old which captures our essence."




Interfaith petition against gay union amendment

washington (jta) | A coalition including Jewish groups joined to oppose a U.S. amendment that would ban same-sex unions.

Clergy for Fairness, which includes the Anti-Defamation League, the Union for Reform Judaism and the National Council of Jewish Women, as well as representatives of other religions, announced a petition that has already gathered 1,600 signatures and postcards and will be sent to members of Congress.

The amendment passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, and will go to the full Senate on June 5.




Jewish frat loses bid for membership

hanover, n.h. (ap) | Through a secret ballot, Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi was rejected for membership in the Dartmouth Interfraternity Council for a second time earlier this month after first being rejected in January.

Told for a second time that it "would not be competitive," the Dartmouth College fraternity council recently blocked Alpha Epsilon Pi from being officially recognized.

While the council originally said it "could not sustain another fraternity," it also conceded that some in the council were uncomfortable admitting a fraternity whose membership was "80 to 90 percent" Jewish.




U. of Texas gets Jewish center

austin (jta) | The University of Texas will soon boast the state's first center for Jewish studies.

The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation has provided a $6 million initial challenge grant, and the university has pledged to raise the remaining $6 million over the next five years.

The center, which will be housed in the religious studies department of the college of liberal arts, will have three endowed chairs: Jewish history, Jewish thought and text studies.

It also will support professorships in social science and literature. The University of Texas has more than 4,000 Jewish students.




Nixon backed off Israeli nukes

washington (jta) | The United States decided against curbing Israel's nuclear capability in 1969, according to declassified documents.

The latest edition of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, drawing on newly released White House papers, reports that Israel had a nuclear bomb by 1967 and that within two years this was discovered by U.S. intelligence.

Senior advisers to President Nixon recommended that he try to check Israel's nuclear program, for fear of destabilizing the Middle East and bringing confrontation with the Soviet Union closer. But Nixon, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in 1969, decided against applying pressure.




Fantasy baseball trip to Israel

new york (jta) | A group of American baseball fans will visit Israel for an Israeli baseball festival.

The Israel Fantasy Baseball tour, organized by the Jewish National Fund and the Israel Baseball League, will head to Israel on July 2 for a weeklong tour of the Jewish state with a special focus on the American national pastime.

The tour is part of a July baseball festival in Israel that also includes a clinic for kids ages 8 to 14 and the first annual Israel Baseball Expo in Jerusalem. Information: (877) JNF-TOUR, ext. 366 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).