JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he would oppose a conversion bill that has rekindled the age-old debate over who is a Jew — and provoked an angry response among liberal Jewish groups abroad whose support is critical to the Jewish state.

Last week, an Israeli parliamentary committee gave preliminary approval to a draft legislation that would give Orthodox rabbis in Israel more control over conversions. The more religiously liberal Reform and Conservative movements that represent the vast majority of Jews outside Israel contend the new legislation would be a dangerous blow to religious pluralism.

Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that he feared the bill would create a rift in the Jewish world and that if he couldn't find a compromise solution, he would ask his coalition partners to vote against it.

Under the current practice, Israel recognizes only conversions performed by Orthodox rabbis inside Israel, but people converted by non-Orthodox rabbis outside the country are automatically eligible for Israeli citizenship like other Jews. The proposed legislation would give Israel's chief rabbinate the legal power to decide whether any conversion is legitimate.

The group most likely to suffer would be immigrants who converted to Judaism abroad and could now be denied Israeli citizenship.

The bill touches a raw nerve in the Reform and Conservative movements, whose presence is marginal in Israel, where Orthodox rabbis have a near monopoly over religious practices such as marriage and burial.

While staunch backers of Israel, these groups look worriedly at the prospect of the country's Orthodox religious establishment further entrenching its control, and in effect being the arbiter of Jewish identity. Passage of the bill would also be a blow to the legitimacy of non-Orthodox rabbis the world over.

Rabbi David Saperstein, head of the Washington-based Religious Action Center of the Union of Reform Judaism, said the bill, if passed, would mark a "crisis of the first order."

"It would be an enormous blow to the unity of the Jewish people and the principle of religious freedom in Israel," said Saperstein, who is visiting the country to lobby lawmakers to drop the bill.

"The American Jewish community will remain strongly engaged in Israel, but the message will be sent that the government of Israel does not accept our rabbis and our movement as legitimate, and it would make all our work much more difficult."

Of the world's roughly 13 million Jews, half live in Israel and most of the rest are concentrated in North America.

Israeli religious authorities' skepticism about the legitimacy of overseas conversions has been cited as one of the main causes of a growing rift between Israel and world Jewry.

Rotem's bill has even provoked a group of Jewish U.S. senators to draft a rare letter of complaint to Israel's ambassador to Washington, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported.

Caley Gray, communications director for signatory Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey), told the Jerusalem Post that "Senator Lautenberg hopes the Knesset does not pass this legislation, which he views as divisive."

The bill's sponsor, David Rotem, an Orthodox lawmaker from the largely secular Yisrael Beitenu party, has rejected the criticism, saying his goal was to make conversion easier for immigrants from the former Soviet Union who make up the majority of his party's voters. The bill empowers selected municipal chief rabbis to conduct conversions. Currently, all such power is vested in the chief rabbinate in Jerusalem.
Roughly 1 million people immigrated to Israel after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many with questionable ties to Judaism. Rotem has said his bill would allow would-be converts the freedom to shop around and look for an amenable local rabbi.

Clinton first traveled to Pakistan as secretary of state in October, a trip that was marked by hostile questioning from student, media and civil society groups. They criticized CIA missile attacks from Predator drones in tribal areas, and charged that the United States was a fair-weather friend that had used this country to drive Soviet troops from Afghanistan in the 1980s and then abandoned it to deal alone with the resulting civil war and Taliban takeover next door.

While Pakistan denies any relationship with Taliban groups, many officials here consider them a bulwark against inroads in Afghanistan by India, its traditional adversary to the east. Administration efforts to woo the Pakistanis have been complicated by the close U.S. relationship with India.

Last week, Gen. David H. Petraeus made his first visit here as the new U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. Petraeus's predecessor, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, was a frequent visitor to Pakistani Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, who is said to have an arms-length relationship with Petraeus.

After meetings Sunday night with Pakistani Prime Minister Yusef Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mohammed Qureshi on Monday will convene the second session of a bilateral "strategic dialogue" begun in Washington last spring. Since the initial session, representatives of the two governments have drawn up lists of agreed projects, with the United States seeking programs that will be visible to the greatest number of Pakistanis.

"We think you're going to find a different situation here" in terms of anti-American feeling compared to Clinton's last visit, Holbrooke said. "The fact that we are delivering is producing change in Pakistani attitudes, first within the government and gradually, more slowly, within public opinion." Recent polls have indicated only a slight improvement in Pakistani opinion.

On the energy front, the United States is in competition with China, which has announced plans to sell two nuclear reactors to Pakistan. Earlier this month, Zardari made his fifth visit in less than two years to China, and the two countries declared a "strategic partnership."
The administration has objected to the reactor sale as a violation of international nuclear safeguards. But its case is undermined by a U.S.-India civil nuclear deal negotiated under the Bush administration and implemented under Obama. Both India and Pakistan are nuclear weapons states, and neither is a signatory of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

"We've asked the Chinese for more information," a senior U.S. official said about China's contention that the deal falls outside existing regulations. "It is an important issue for us."

“I think the moral is just the fact that I let these guys down in a game where we weren’t out of the game early against a good team that’s right behind us in second place,’’ Burnett said.

Burnett’s anger swelled on the day George Steinbrenner was laid to rest and the Yankees honored longtime public address announcer Bob Sheppard during Old-Timers Day festivities.

After the Rays made it 3-0 after two innings, Burnett marched into New York’s clubhouse and slammed open a set of double doors leading to the showers at the far end of the room, slicing both hands on the plastic lineup-card holders pasted to the door.

Burnett (7-8) and manager Joe Girardi said the No. 2 starter would make his next scheduled start.

Twins 3, White Sox 2 — Carl Pavano picked up right where he left off before the All-Star break, pitching a complete game — his fourth of the season — for host Minnesota.

Carlos Quentin grounded out to end the duel between Pavano and Mark Buehrle (8-8), who also went the distance, in an astonishing 1 hour 52 minutes — the third-fastest nine-inning game in the majors this season, according to STATS LLC.

Brewers 6, Braves 3 — Corey Hart hit a three-run double in Milwaukee’s five-run seventh, Chris Narveson outpitched Tim Hudson, and the Brewers beat host Atlanta.

Prince Fielder hit his 21st homer in the Brewers’ big seventh and was hit by a pitch in the eighth, leading to ejections for Braves reliever Jonny Venters and manager Bobby Cox.

Blue Jays 3, Orioles 2 — Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 25th homer in the eighth inning, a two-run shot off Jason Berken that provided Toronto with a comeback victory in Baltimore.

Indians sweep Tigers — Austin Kearns lined a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Cleveland a 2-1 win in the second game. Fausto Carmona (9-7) outlasted Justin Verlander in a matchup of All-Star righthanders to win the opener, 4-3.

Phillies 4, Cubs 1 — Placido Polanco, just off the disabled list, hit a tying single with two outs in the ninth inning and Philadelphia rallied for four runs against wild closer Carlos Marmol to beat host Chicago.

Padres 8, Diamondbacks 5 — Tony Gwynn Jr. hit an inside-the-park homer and Yorvit Torrealba drove in four runs to lift host San Diego.

Marlins 2, Nationals 0 — Josh Johnson (10-3) and three relievers combined on an 11-hit shutout as host Florida beat Washington.

Pirates 12, Astros 6 — Neil Walker had three hits, drove in two runs, and scored three times, and host Pittsburgh snapped a seven-game losing streak.

Reds 8, Rockies 1 — Former ace Edinson Volquez pitched like one in his return from elbow surgery, allowing only three hits over six innings, and host Cincinnati cracked four homers in the win.

Angels 7, Mariners 6 — Juan Rivera hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, Mike Napoli also went deep, and host Los Angeles beat Seattle after blowing a five-run lead.
Athletics 6, Royals 5 — Adam Rosales drove in the tiebreaking run against Joakim Soria in the ninth inning with his third single, leading visiting Oakland.

Cardinals 2, Dodgers 0 — Adam Wainwright (14-5) pitched six sharp innings to improve to 10-0 at home and Skip Schumaker and Brendan Ryan each drove in a run, leading St. Louis over Los Angeles.