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The Jewish Sport Report: This inspiring Jewish sports story will never air on TV
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Hello, Jewish Sport Report readers!
Israel’s impressive run at the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in San Diego came to an end Wednesday in a quarterfinals loss to the United States, the top-ranked team. Before losing to the American team, Israel had beaten Sweden, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the Czech Republic and Ireland.
Read our recent deep-dive on lacrosse in Israel here.
An inspiring Jewish story cut from ‘American Ninja Warrior’
Members of the Jewish Inspiration Foundation on the set of “American Ninja Warrior.” From left to right: Chaya Ruth Weberman, Eli Casper, Ari Cohen, Esther Schwab and Aydra Jones. (Courtesy of Leah Cohen)
Orthodox athlete Michael Neuman had set it up perfectly. He qualified for the current season of NBC’s obstacle course competition show “American Ninja Warrior.” And he had arranged for a group of children with severe illnesses and disorders from his charitable organization to join him in Los Angeles for the taping.
The kids had the time of their lives. They were going to be featured in the show’s promotional content and on the episode itself. They were put up in a 5-star hotel.
But the semifinals were set to be filmed on Shabbat, and Neuman took himself out of the competition. The show decided not to air any of the footage of Neuman and his foundation, and the children’s parents were devastated that they wouldn’t receive any of the footage as keepsake records.
“I can’t fathom that that’s out there and one day when my son, God forbid, is not here, to know that those pictures and those videos are out there, and I won’t be able to have any comfort in looking at them and seeing them and being proud of them,” Leah Cohen, one of the parents who went on the trip, told me.
Read more about the whole ordeal here.
Halftime report
NO MORE 88. Italian soccer players will no longer be allowed to wear No. 88, after the Italian government and the Italian soccer federation announced a joint initiative this week aimed at curbing antisemitism. The number 88 has been used by neo-Nazis as a coded antisemitic symbol.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN. More than a thousand Jewish teenage athletes from 10 countries are convening for the JCC Maccabi Games next week, an Olympics-style competition put on by the Maccabi World Union. The tournament kicks off on Thursday, and at the opening ceremony next weekend, attendees will hear from Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Israeli NBA player Deni Avdija will light the torch.
ENCORE. After placing third in the Under-20 World Cup, Israel’s under-21 soccer team is on a run of its own at the European Championships. Israel pulled off an upset 1-0 win over the Czech Republic on Wednesday and will advance to the quarterfinals, where they face the host country Georgia on Saturday.
BAGEL-ED. It’s been an up-and-down week, and season, for Oakland A’s fans. But one night before watching their squad lose in a perfect game, Jewish A’s fans were treated to a win-win: their team beat the New York Yankees on Jewish Heritage Night. There were bagels, of course.
LIKE RIDING A BIKE. The Tour de France begins tomorrow, and eight cyclists will suit up for a team called Israel Premier Tech, which features a Star of David on its uniform. But none of them are Jewish or Israeli. The Forward has more.
These Ukrainian teens are headed to Jewish sports camp in California
Clockwise from top left: Leonid Bereslavich, Mark Sagan, Alexey Kulik, Nikita Novitsky, Ilya Miroshnichenko, Veniamin Rudman and Artur Dotsenko (Courtesy of Makkabi Ukraine)
Thanks to a partnership between Maccabi USA and the Ramah camping system, a group of six Ukrainian teens and one counselor are headed to California next week for an all-expenses-paid trip to Ramah Sports Academy.
“For these children, who mainly are now in Ukraine, it’s really a good opportunity to have a good rest, to see another country, to speak with teens the same age as they are,” said Galina Pechaiko, who lives in Kyiv and serves as Makkabi Ukraine’s deputy director.
I spoke with a number of the teens and the organizers of the initiative. Check it out.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN BASEBALL…
Dean Kremer takes the mound for the Baltimore Orioles tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET against the Minnesota Twins. Harrison Bader and the New York Yankees face his old team, the St. Louis Cardinals, in a three-game set this weekend, while Alex Bregman and the Houston Astros take on their division rival Texas Rangers.
IN SOCCER…
Daniel Edelman and the New York Red Bulls host the Columbus Crew Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Edelman is coming off a solid performance against Atlanta, which earned him a spot on the MLS Young Players of the Matchday. Israel’s under-21 national team faces Georgia tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET in the European U-21 Championship.
IN BASKETBALL…
Abby Meyers and the Washington Mystics take on the Atlanta Dream tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Dallas Wings Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.
IN RACING…
Lance Stroll will be racing at the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix Sunday at 9 a.m. ET.
Nominate a standout athlete today!
Don’t forget to nominate an awesome Jewish student athlete for our upcoming list of “Jewish Student Athletes to Watch.” We’re looking to highlight high school and college athletes who are stars on and off the field.
Nominations are open through July 12. Nominate someone today!
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: This inspiring Jewish sports story will never air on TV appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
The post Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
The post Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
The post US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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