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Indonesia removed as host of U-20 FIFA World Cup over Israel objections
(JTA) — Indonesia has been stripped of its hosting rights for the upcoming FIFA Under-20 Men’s World Cup, after the country objected to Israel’s participation.
FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, announced the decision Wednesday, saying Indonesia was removed as host “due to the current circumstances,” without providing further clarification. The Football Association of Indonesia may also face further penalties.
The tournament is set to begin May 20, with 24 teams from around the world participating. Israel had qualified for the first time after reaching the semifinals in the Under-19 European Championship.
The draw for the U-20 tournament, originally scheduled to take place Friday in Bali, was canceled after Bali also objected to Israel’s presence in the tournament.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his country had agreed to host before knowing Israel would be playing. Dozens protested Israel’s inclusion in Indonesia’s capital on Monday.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and supports the Palestinian cause.
Israel’s participation “has nothing to do with the consistency of our foreign-policy position toward Palestine, because our support for Palestine has always been solid and strong,” Widodo said on Tuesday, according to The New York Times. He also said that people should “not mix sports and politics.”
This is not the first time Indonesia’s opposition to Israel has impacted global soccer events.
Indonesia, along with Turkey and Sudan, dropped out of qualifiers for the 1958 World Cup to avoid playing against Israel — letting Israel win the Africa and Asia group qualifiers without playing a game. In 1962, Israel withdrew from the Asian Games after Indonesia, then the host country, refused to issue visas to Israeli players.
According to the Associated Press, the Palestinian ambassador to Indonesia had no objection to Israel’s participation, and some Indonesians disagreed with their country’s decision.
“The rejection of the Israeli national team by some people in Indonesia, including a number of regional heads and politicians is regrettable,” said Hikmahanto Juwana, a professor of international law at the University of Indonesia. “As long as Indonesia has declared itself willing to be the host, Indonesia must take the risk not to reject any members from international event organizers.”
This episode comes only days after an international rugby tournament in South Africa disinvited an Israeli team.
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The post Indonesia removed as host of U-20 FIFA World Cup over Israel objections appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.