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The Jewish Sport Report: Who’s the next Jewish MLB Hall of Famer? We asked the experts.
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(JTA) — Good afternoon, sports fans!
I hope you’ve all been staying warm and dry during this week’s winter weather. If it’s any consolation, pitchers and catchers begin to report three weeks from today. Spring is just around the corner!
Who’s next to join Koufax and Greenberg in Cooperstown?
From left to right: Ryan Braun, Ian Kinsler, Hank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax, Max Fried and Alex Bregman (Getty Images; Design by Mollie Suss)
Only two Jewish players, Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg, have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. There are no Jews on this year’s ballot — the results of which will be announced on Tuesday — and it’s been 11 years since any Jewish player (Shawn Green) received any votes.
That could all change soon.
Ian Kinsler and Ryan Braun are set to appear on the ballot over the next two years. And active stars Alex Bregman and Max Fried are amassing records on the field that could vault them into the Hall conversation down the road.
So who’s got the best shot to be next? Are any of the aforementioned players worthy?
To find out, I reached out to a number of Jewish baseball writers and experts, including two Hall of Fame voters, to get their predictions. Ken Rosenthal, Jayson Stark, Jonathan Mayo and others weighed in.
Read our Hall of Fame deep-dive right here.
Halftime report
RE-ICED. The International Ice Hockey Federation has reversed its decision to bar Israel from next week’s youth world championships in Bulgaria, part of which Israel was originally supposed to host. The IIHF’s initial decision to remove Israel — a call the governing body said was made in the interest of safety — drew criticism from hockey leaders in Israel and “concern” from the NHL.
NOT A FAN. Maccabi Haifa will play a Belgian soccer club next month in front of an empty stadium. The team’s Feb. 21 match against KAA Gent, which will be played in Ghent, Belgium, will have no fans because of safety concerns.
COLD TURKEY. Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel was detained in Turkey this week, where he plays for the top-tier Antalyaspor club, after he made a public gesture to mark 100 days since Oct. 7. Jehezkel was suspended from his club, which has said it will terminate his contract, and is now back in Israel.
CRICKETS FOR TEEGER. An executive at the South Africa headquarters of the sportswear company Diadora said the company would not sponsor any events including David Teeger, the Jewish cricket player who was stripped of his position as captain of the country’s Under-19 national team last week over anti-Israel protests against him.
TO THE NINES. Each offseason, MLB Network ranks the top 10 players at each position, and so far, two Jewish players have made the cut: Zack Gelof and Max Fried were named the ninth-best second baseman and starting pitcher, respectively. The third baseman list will be announced Jan. 31 and is likely to feature Alex Bregman, who was ranked sixth last year.
“B.Y.-JEW.” Jewish quarterback Jake Retzlaff — who we featured on our list of 36 Jewish Student Athletes to Watch — has made waves at Brigham Young University, where he’s one of only seven Jewish students. Retzlaff spoke with Haaretz about his experience as a Jewish player at the Mormon university.
RAISING THE BAR. Former Olympian Aly Raisman is joining ESPN as an analyst on its NCAA gymnastics broadcasts, where she’s set to make her debut today. “I’m so excited,” Raisman told People Magazine. “If I’m being honest, I’m also very nervous because I want to do a good job.”
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN FOOTBALL…
A.J. Dillon is the lone Jewish player still standing in the NFL playoffs. His Green Bay Packers take on the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. ET on Fox. Dillon, who did not play last week, is currently listed as questionable for the game due to injuries.
IN BASKETBALL…
Deni Avdija and the Washington Wizards host the San Antonio Spurs Saturday at 7 p.m. ET and the Denver Nuggets Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Amari Bailey and his G League team, the Greensboro Swarm, face the South Bay Lakers Saturday at 8 p.m. E.T.
IN HOCKEY…
Goalkeeper Yaniv Perets, who made his NHL debut on Monday, and his Carolina Hurricanes host Jake Walman (who has missed time this week with an illness) and the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 7 p.m. ET, and the Minnesota Wild Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. Luke Hughes and the New Jersey Devils face the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight and host the Dallas Stars tomorrow, both at 7 p.m. ET. Star Jack Hughes remains sidelined with an upper-body injury. In the PWHL, Aerin Frankel and Kaleigh Fratkin and the Boston squad host Abbey Levy and the New York team tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET.
IN GOLF…
Daniel Berger returns to action this weekend at The American Express PGA tournament. The 30-year-old hasn’t competed since he missed the cut at the 2022 U.S. Open because of a back injury. Ben Silverman, who finished tied for 18th at last week’s Sony Open, and David Lipsky are also at the tournament in La Quinta, California.
Wrestlemania in Israel
(Courtesy of the Ida Crown Jewish Academy)
Students from Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Skokie, Illinois, visited Israel earlier this month, participating in volunteer projects and competing alongside the Israeli national and Olympic wrestling team in Beersheva. (Courtesy of Ida Crown Jewish Academy)
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: Who’s the next Jewish MLB Hall of Famer? We asked the experts. 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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