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The Israel Campus Beat Is Back!
Welcome back to the Israel Campus Beat -- your best  source for bi-weekly top news, analysis and commentary from Israel and the pro-Israel campus community. Please help us spread the good news that the ICB will be back in your inbox this academic year. Post a link on social networking sites, forward the full ICB or just one story. And send us copies of articles about Israel that appear in your campus newspapers.
And remember: Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel.
Israel Pays Tribute to "Great Friend" Ted Kennedy
by Sefi Krupsky
 Israel's President Shimon Peres on Wednesday expressed deep
sorrow on behalf of Israel at the death of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy,
who died on Tuesday night. Peres said that Kennedy was a particularly respected leader with an
interest in helping society, and added that his death was a great loss
for every thoughtful person in the world.
"Kennedy was a clear friend of Israel the whole way, and in every place that he could help us he did help," he added. (Ha'aretz)
See also Mishpacha -- Ted Kennedy Became Part of Our Family by Sarah Wildman
Israel Weighs Iranian Threat
by Paula Hancocks
 Israel makes no secret that it sees Iran as its biggest threat. Dore
Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the UN, said: "The IAEA has
inspected the known nuclear sites of Iran, but it's believed they still
have other clandestine nuclear sites where they may be enriching
uranium or they may be pursuing a plutonium route like the North
Koreans, so there's a certain amount of uncertainty in any assessment
in the timeline of an Iranian bomb." Efraim Kam, an Israeli analyst on Middle East affairs, estimates
that theoretically Iran could develop a nuclear bomb within the next
year. "My personal view is that Iran would not do it because they
understand that Israel does have a nuclear arsenal. It has to take that
into account, and because the U.S. will deter Iran as well." (CNN)
Lady GaGa in Tel Aviv: Madonna, She Wasn't
by Yoav Segev
 Lady GaGa may have fallen in love with Israel, but
after last week's concert in Tel Aviv, it's doubtful that many
Israelis fell in love with her. GaGa
kept doing what she could, the best she could -
singing, flirting with the crowd, and dancing, in a routine that one
would expect from "So You Think You Can Dance?" And then, it happened.
The moment everyone was waiting for. Lady knew it too, and lapped up
the attention.
Lady GaGa did two versions to her massive hit "Poker Face." Perhaps the time we see her round these parts, we'll probably get a more complex, more professional
GaGa. (Ha'aretz)
See also Tel Aviv Performance of "Poker Face" (YouTube)
Tweet God
by Lianne Gross
  Want to tweet God? An Israeli university student has opened a Twitter site,
where prayers can be sent for placement in the
crevices of Jerusalem's Western Wall, a Jewish holy site that faithful
believe provides a direct line to the Almighty. "I take their prayers, print them out and drive to Jerusalem to put
them in the Western Wall," said Alon Nir, a resident of Tel Aviv. (Reuters)
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Prime Minister Netanyahu in London: Israel Is Commited to Peace
"I reiterated
Israel’s commitment to peace and outlined what I believe is the winning
formula for peace: a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes
the Jewish state. We’re working hard to advance a peace process that
will lead to an actual peace result and we hope to move forward in the
weeks and months ahead. We’re not waiting. We have already moved: my
government has removed, to be precise, 147 checkpoints and roadblocks. There has to be not
merely a partner on the other side, there has to be a courageous
partner, because I think we’ve shown a certain amount of fortitude and
leadership and that’s what’s required from the Palestinian side. They
have to say unequivocally ‘it’s over. We are going to make a real
peace. It’ll be a final peace. It will be a peace that will end all
claims to further conflict.'" (Prime Minister's Office)
Polls: 4% of Israeli Jews: Obama Pro-Israel
by Gil Hoffman
 The number of Israelis who see
President Obama's policies as
pro-Israel has fallen to 4%, down from 6% in June, according to a Smith
Research poll taken this week. 51% of Jewish Israelis consider Obama
more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israel, while 35% consider him neutral.
The poll also asked Jewish Israelis whether they would support
freezing settlement construction for a year as part of an
American-brokered deal. 50% said no, while 41% said yes. (Jerusalem Post)
Israel Presses Sweden on Organ Theft Story
by Ilene R. Prusher
 In the view from Jerusalem, the Swedish government should condemn Aftonbladet,
which suggested that Israel snatched the organs of Palestinians who
died in their custody. The head of Israel's Government Press Office, Daniel Seaman, "We don't expect an apology, but
we're expecting them to do the morally decent thing by denouncing this
kind of virulent anti-Semitism." (Christian Science Monitor)
Tens of Thousands of Muslims at Ramadan Prayers in Jerusalem
 Tens of
thousands of faithful thronged the Al-Aqsa mosque compound
in Jerusalem's Old City for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, with
Israeli police reporting no significant incident. Police estimated the
crowd at 90,000.The Israeli army has extended opening times at some
checkpoints for the
month of Ramadan, and said in a statement soldiers manning the barriers
have been told to "refrain from eating and drinking in public" whenever
possible "so as to demonstrate a high level of respect and
understanding." (AFP)
See also Welcome to Camp Hamas By Arnon Ben-Dror
100 thousand
kids and youth spent their summer vacation training in 700 Hamas
training camps in Gaza. The camp's curriculum includes firearm training and
military drills in order to nurture the next generation of militants. (IDF Spokesman)
Ben-Gurion: Cardiac Muscle Patch Succeeds in Animals
Scientists in I srael
have successfully grown heart muscle in the
abdomen and then used it to patch and repair the hearts of rats after
they had suffered heart attack. This is the first study to show it is
possible to improve the
health of a heart after it has been damaged through heart attack. The
experiment was conducted by Dr. Tal Dvir, of the Department of
Biotechnology Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in
Beersheba, Israel, and colleagues, and appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Medical News Today)
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