JERUSALEM, July 14 (Reuters) – Israeli premier league club Beitar Jerusalem have been sold to new owners and saved from administration, the club’s chief executive said on Thursday.

Itzik Kornfein, the man appointed by Beitar’s Russian-born billionaire owner for the past six seasons to run the club, told reporters after returning from London that Beitar had been bought by U.S. investors Dan Adler and Adam Levine.

“This is an important day for Beitar Jerusalem, after almost six years in which Arkady Gaydamak was the owner we agreed yesterday (Wednesday) on the transfer of ownership,” Kornfein said.

Beitar were Israel’s richest club until three seasons ago when Gaydamak stopped most of his funding following a devastating result in the Jerusalem mayoral election in which he was a candidate. He refused several previous offers to sell the club.

“This is the time for all Beitar fans to get behind the new owners with the aim of perhaps taking the club back to its glory days,” Kornfein added.

Adler is a Los Angeles entertainment executive and this year was unsuccessful in his bid to gain a seat as a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress.

Gaydamak bought Beitar in August 2005 in a move that was likened in Israel to Roman Abramovich’s purchase of English giants Chelsea in 2004. He invested heavily to make them by far Israel’s richest club.

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters Life!) – A disused Ottoman-era jail in Jerusalem has been taken over this month for performances of American composer Steve Reich’s “Different Trains” multimedia work that recounts the ferrying of Jews to the Nazi death camps.

The antiquated building in Jerusalem’s walled Old City was built by Palestine’s Turkish Ottoman conquerors in the mid-19th century and later used by its British Mandate rulers, but the site has lain derelict for decades.

The show, part of Jerusalem’s Season of Culture, was brought to the city by Stockholm’s Jewish Theater that first staged it under the direction of Pia Forsgren in the Swedish capital in October 2008.

Sweden’s Fleshquartet played electronic instruments in the cavernous hall to perform Reich’s work that debuted in 1988 and won a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

They added their own improvised sounds in a work they call “Tears Apart” on colorfully lit bulbous glass vessels in a darkened hall draped in black and with video footage of trains projected onto the walls.

To watch a clip of the Fleshquartet’s performance of the work click here: http:/vimeo.com/24105329

ATHENS/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Greece prevented a boat of U.S. activists from sailing on Friday to join a flotilla of pro-Palestinian campaigners planning to challenge Israel’s sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The small flotilla of activists from the United States, France and Canada was due to leave at least a week ago, but the departure has been constantly put back amid allegations of sabotage.

The Greek coastguard intercepted the boat soon after it left the port of Perama, near Piraeus, for the open sea, one of the activists said.

“We are just here, two miles off Piraeus,” said U.S. activist Ann Wright, aboard the ship. “We’ve been stopped by the coastguard. Their ship maneuvered in front of us and they are now talking to the captain. They want us to turn around,” she told Reuters by phone.

Some hours later the vessel started heading back to the Greek shore, said a coastguard official who declined to be named.

Wright said the mission had wanted to sail to the Greek island of Crete but the coastguard would not allow them.

Greek authorities said earlier on Friday that ships destined for Gaza — which involves transit through international waters — were prohibited from leaving Greek ports.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A flotilla of boats planning to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip will set sail next week, a spokeswoman said on Friday, after repeated delays that activists blame on Israeli sabotage.

“Israel is doing its very, very best to make sure we don’t get out of port,” spokeswoman Greta Berlin said, speaking by telephone from Greece where some of the ships are moored.

“We want to move the boats by July 5 to get to our rendezvous point no later than July 6 or 7 … We will go with what we have,” she added.

The small flotilla, including boats from the United States, France and Canada, was due to leave at least a week ago, but the departure has been constantly put back amidst allegations of a dirty tricks campaign to stop the pro-Palestinian initiative.

Israel says its blockade of Gaza is aimed at stopping weapons from reaching the enclave’s rulers, Hamas — an Islamist group which is branded a terrorist organisation by the West.

Palestinians and their supporters say the naval closure is illegal and constitutes collective punishment for Gaza’s 1.5 million residents.

Irish activists accused Israel on Thursday of sabotaging their boat in Turkey by damaging the propeller shaft, stopping it from sailing to Gaza.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday participants in an aid flotilla planning to challenge an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip were seeking “confrontation and blood.”

Pro-Palestinian activists have said around a dozen ships carrying aid to Gaza, territory controlled by Hamas Islamists, could depart from European ports in the coming days.

A year ago, nine Turkish activists, including a dual U.S.-Turkish national, were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers who raided a Gaza-bound convoy in the eastern Mediterranean.

Israel has said it will prevent the new flotilla from reaching the coastal enclave, and Lieberman repeated its offer to the activists to deliver aid via the Israeli port of Ashdod or through Egypt or the United Nations.

“They are clearly there to create a provocation, looking for confrontation and blood and for many pictures on television screens,” Lieberman told Israel Radio, adding that there was a “hard core of terror activists” among the participants.

On their website, U.S. participants in the flotilla said their intentions were peaceful and they would set sail “without weapons protection or threat of force.”

At a news conference in Athens Monday, a group of some 400 activists that included European MPs, a former CIA analyst and a 75-year Holocaust survivor, professors and authors complained that Greece was bowing to pressure from Israel and using bureaucratic tactics to try to block their departure.

JERUSALEM, June 28 (Reuters) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday participants in an aid flotilla planning to challenge an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip were seeking “confrontation and blood”.

Pro-Palestinian activists have said around a dozen ships carrying aid to Gaza, territory controlled by Hamas Islamists, could depart from European ports in the coming days.

A year ago, nine Turkish activists, including a dual U.S.-Turkish national, were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers who raided a Gaza-bound convoy in the eastern Mediterranean.

Israel has said it will prevent the new flotilla from reaching the coastal enclave, and Lieberman repeated its offer to the activists to deliver aid via the Israeli port of Ashdod or through Egypt or the United Nations.

“They are clearly there to create a provocation, looking for confrontation and blood and for many pictures on television screens,” Lieberman told Israel Radio, adding that there was a “hard core of terror activists” among the participants.

On their website, U.S. participants in the flotilla said their intentions were peaceful and they would set sail “without weapons protection or threat of force”.

At a news conference in Athens on Monday, a group of some 400 activists that included European MPs, a former CIA analyst and a 75-year Holocaust survivor, professors and authors complained that Greece was bowing to pressure from Israel and using bureaucratic tactics to try to block their departure.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s Stanley Fischer said on Tuesday he regretted a decision by the International Monetary Fund board to rule him out of the IMF top job because he was too old and said he would “happily” stay on as central bank chief.

“I think that the age restriction, which was set in the past at 65, is not relevant today. I was hoping the IMF board of directors would change its regulations, not only for the sake of my candidacy, but also for the sake of future candidates for the position of managing director,” Fischer, 67, said in a statement.

An IMF board statement on Monday said it had shortlisted French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, seen as the favourite for the job, and Mexico’s central bank chief Agustin Carstens. It made no mention of Fischer.

The 24-member board rejected changing the IMF’s rules that would have allowed Fischer to run, two board officials told Reuters.

The officials said changing the rules for Fischer, who is highly respected by both advanced and emerging economies, would have required a reopening of the selection process to allow other candidates older than 65 to participate in the race.

The IMF statement added that it planned to complete the selection process by June 30.

A former World Bank chief economist and ex-vice chairman of Citigroup, Fischer, who holds American and Israeli passports, announced his last-minute candidacy at the weekend, saying he had been encouraged to enter by a number of governments.

MASADA, Israel, June 6 (Reuters) – An Israeli opera festival’s centre-piece at the revered historical site of Masada this month was a tale of betrayal, love and death in the shape of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida.

The spectacular staging on the barren shores of the Dead Sea with the stark sandstone plateau as a backdrop, followed performances of Verdi’s Nabucco at the same venue last year.

Masada strikes a special chord among Israelis. According to the ancient historian Josephus, it was the site of a Roman siege that ended in 73 AD when hundreds of Jewish rebels committed mass suicide rather than fall as slaves to the Romans.

In Aida, an Ethiopian princess kept as a slave in ancient Egypt chooses to die with her beloved, a young Egyptian warrior, after he is sentenced to death for betraying his country.

At Masada, a huge stage was dominated by a Pharaonic statue. The open venue allowed American soprano Kristine Lewis who sang the title role to exit a scene on the back of a camel.

Israel Opera director Hanna Munitz said some 3,000 visitors from abroad bought tickets to the 12-day festival that began on June 1.

“(Had it not been for events in) Egypt, Libya and Syria, I think we could have had even more tourists coming from all over the world,” Munitz said, referring to uprisings that have made the region appear more dangerous to visitors.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Holders Hapoel Tel Aviv beat league champions Maccabi Haifa 1-0 to retain the Israeli State Cup Wednesday.

Striker Salim Toama scored the only goal in the second minute when he blasted a low, angled shot from 18 metres that skimmed the surface and beat Maccabi keeper Nir Davidovich.

Haifa dominated most of the possession during a largely disappointing final between Israel’s two best teams over the past decade in front of 38,000 fans, but they rarely threatened Nigerian international goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

Haifa were seeking a second league and cup double 20 years after their first success but were unable to find a finishing touch to beat a strong Hapoel defence.

Haifa’s defensive frailties almost saw them let in a second goal three minutes after the first when striker Ben Sahar shot wide. Veteran defender and captain Walid Badir then rattled Haifa’s crossbar early in the second half and Toto Tamuz should have put the match beyond Haifa’s reach near the end.

The victory was a watershed for Hapoel who are expected to revamp their playing staff next season, as coach Eli Guttman and many players appear set to leave the club, partly as a result of a financial dispute between the club’s two main backers.

Haifa will play in the qualifying rounds of next season’s Champions League and Hapoel will play in the Europa League qualifying rounds.

TEL AVIV, May 25 (Reuters) – Holders Hapoel Tel Aviv beat league champions Maccabi Haifa 1-0 to retain the Israeli State Cup on Wednesday.

Striker Salim Toama scored the only goal in the second minute when he blasted a low, angled shot from 18 metres that skimmed the surface and beat Maccabi keeper Nir Davidovich.

Haifa dominated most of the possession during a largely disappointing final between Israel’s two best teams over the past decade in front of 38,000 fans, but they rarely threatened Nigerian international goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

Haifa were seeking a second league and cup double 20 years after their first success but were unable to find a finishing touch to beat a strong Hapoel defence.

Haifa’s defensive frailties almost saw them let in a second goal three minutes after the first when striker Ben Sahar shot wide. Veteran defender and captain Walid Badir then rattled Haifa’s crossbar early in the second half and Toto Tamuz should have put the match beyond Haifa’s reach near the end.

The victory was a watershed for Hapoel who are expected to revamp their playing staff next season, as coach Eli Guttman and many players appear set to leave the club, partly as a result of a financial dispute between the club’s two main backers.

Haifa will play in the qualifying rounds of next season’s Champions League and Hapoel will play in the Europa League qualifying rounds.