LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Three Los Angeles businessmen have put up $125,000 to enable a Jewish cricket team from India to participate in next year’s Maccabiah Games.
"This is our answer to the murderous rampage against Indian and Israeli citizens," said Steve Soboroff, the founder of the Committee of 18 to support and publicize the 18th Games in Israel, which open July 13. He was referring to the siege of Mumbai, which included two Indian hotels and the Mumbai Chabad House.
The committee consists of 18 Los Angeles leaders in the entertainment, media, marketing and business fields. Beny Alagem, Larry Green and Martin Moskowitz, three members of the committee, immediately agreed to underwrite the $125,000 donation, Soboroff said.
"Without this gift, which will allow 21 Jewish cricket players from Mumbai to attend the Maccabiah, India would have been unable to field a team," Soboroff added.
For the first time, tens of millions of American television viewers will be able to watch the Maccabiah through Jewish Life Television, or JLTV, which will feed its coverage to Comcast, Time-Warner and Direct TV.
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