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Ian Kinsler wears Team Israel jersey to throw out first pitch at Texas Rangers playoff game
(JTA) — Ian Kinsler, the Jewish former MLB All-Star and Team Israel manager, wore a Team Israel jersey while throwing out the first pitch of the playoff game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
As both a player and a manager, Ian Kinsler has worn the jersey many times and in several different stadiums. But the choice to wear it at the game, along with a Texas Rangers hat — he played the first eight years of his 14-year MLB career with the Rangers — appeared to be a stand of solidarity with Israel as it deals with the fallout of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
Kins to @Dutch_Oven45 to get us started! pic.twitter.com/BxRfljgLwn
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 19, 2023
The clip of the first pitch was shared widely across social media, with fans and Team Israel players commending Kinsler for his show of support.
“Ian Kinsler, in his own quiet way, has given the supporters of Israel a reason to feel very proud and have great respect,” Team Israel general manager Peter Kurz, who had recruited Kinsler to join the team, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency via text message. “There is no bigger platform today in America than the baseball playoffs, and by taking advantage of that platform to so proudly wear his Team Israel jersey as he got the honor of throwing out the first pitch, Ian has said to the world: ‘Israel means a lot to me, Israel is fighting a bitter and barbarian enemy, and I support the people of Israel in this war!!’”
Kinsler played for Team Israel in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo — for which he obtained Israeli citizenship — and managed the club at the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami.
Ahead of Team Israel pitcher Dean Kremer’s emotional playoff appearance just days into the war, Kinsler told the Dallas Morning News that he has been following the situation in Israel.
“It’s a tough time, and something that is hard to understand,” Kinsler said. “I stand in solidarity with the people of Israel, especially the IDF who are fighting to defend the country and its people. I know people who have been recalled to service and pray for their safety and their family’s peace of mind daily. Innocent lives are being lost on both sides and I pray for a quick resolution.”
Kinsler’s display of support in the playoffs follows similar acts by Astros star Alex Bregman, who drew a Star of David on his hat during the previous series, and Kremer, who wore a Star of David necklace as he became the first Israeli-American to pitch in the postseason. Last week, the Philadelphia Phillies held a moment of silence for Israel prior to their playoff game against the Atlanta Braves.
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UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, seen by Reuters, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities. The text does not name the United States or Israel.
“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program,” Guterres said.
The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran’s enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, “no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage.”
Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran’s sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.
“Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran requested the U.N. Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Israel‘s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”
Danon told reporters before the council meeting that it was still early when it came to assessing the impact of the U.S. strikes. When asked if Israel was pursuing regime change in Iran, Danon said: “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us.”
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Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document … and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’
FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.
US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.
“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.
The post Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.