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Team Israel exits World Baseball Classic with 5-1 loss to Venezuela
MIAMI (JTA) — They didn’t call it the “Pool of Death” for nothing.
After a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Nicaragua on Sunday, Israel finished the World Baseball Classic with only one additional run over the next three games. Israel lost 10-0 to both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, recording only one hit across the two games, both of which were cut short by the WBC mercy rule.
On Wednesday, Israel’s bats came alive in the final game, with nine hits, including three for Noah Mendlinger and two for Michael Wielansky. But Israel lost 5-1 to Venezuela, which swept the fearsome Pool D where Israel played this week.
Israel scored its lone run with a trio of singles by Mendlinger, Wielansky and Jakob Goldfarb in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“It was nice to have a little action out there, and score one run,” Israel manager Ian Kinsler said after the game. “The guys really battled today and put up some tough at-bats, so it was a lot more exciting for us.”
With the loss, Israel exits the WBC in fourth place in Pool D with a 1-3 record, but will automatically qualify for the 2026 tournament.
Israel switched up its lineup on Wednesday, inserting Goldfarb, an Arizona Diamondbacks minor leaguer, into center field for star Joc Pederson — who helped recruit fellow big leaguers for the team — and Wielansky, a former Houston Astros draft pick, at shortstop.
Jake Fishman, who made his major league debut for the Miami Marlins in 2022, pitched the fourth inning for Israel, becoming the final member of the Israeli roster to appear in the tournament.
Jake Fishman (@swedishfishman1) in to pitch here to round out our entire roster making appearances in this WBC! pic.twitter.com/PpUwd29Ue8
— Israel Baseball (@ILBaseball) March 15, 2023
Mendlinger and outfielder Alex Dickerson led the team with three hits each in the WBC. Israel’s four total runs were driven in by Garrett Stubbs, Goldfarb and Spencer Horwitz.
Other notable moments for Israel included a gutsy performance by 19-year-old Orthodox prospect Jacob Steinmetz, who struck out three Dominican All-Stars on Tuesday, and earlier that day, a joint ceremony between the Israeli and the Dominican teams to promote friendship between the two countries.
And what was Kinsler’s highlight for this WBC? Two words: Jacob Steinmetz.
“He threw well for a young player, an inexperienced player,” Kinsler said. “To come into this environment and control his emotions, control himself and fill up the strike zone was pretty impressive.”
Kinsler, who had never managed prior to this tournament, said he learned a lot about coaching. He added that Brad Ausmus, who was his manager when Kinsler was a player on the Detroit Tigers and served as a coach for Israel, was a helpful resource as he learned on the job.
Fans traveled from near and far to cheer on Team Israel. Lloyd Kaplan, who visited Miami from Long Island, called it a “once in a lifetime experience.” Israel’s fans may have been far outnumbered by the four Latin countries, but Israel’s players still appreciated the support.
“Just seeing all that is awesome, knowing there will always be people behind me,” Steinmetz said after his start.
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The post Team Israel exits World Baseball Classic with 5-1 loss to Venezuela appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Lindsey Graham urges Israel not to strike Iranian oil depots even as he says he helped make war happen
(JTA) — Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has called on Israel to rein in its attacks on Iranian oil infrastructure, marking a rare note of caution from a Republican lawmaker who has said he helped push the United States to join Israel in waging war against Iran.
In a post on X on Sunday, Graham praised Israel for its role in the war before adding that “there will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous ayatollah’s regime.”
“In that regard, please be cautious about what targets you select,” continued Graham. “Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor.”
Graham’s post linked to an Axios article that reported that the United States was alarmed by Israeli strikes over the weekend that targeted 30 Iranian fuel depots. On Monday, U.S. gas prices rose to their highest levels since 2024.
The warning from Graham, an ally of President Donald Trump and staunch supporter of Israel, comes days after the Republican hawk told the Wall Street Journal that he had played a key role in urging Trump to strike Iran.
Prior to the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, Graham made several trips to Israel where he met with members of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu whom he said he coached on how to lobby Trump to strike Iran.
“They’ll tell me things our own government won’t tell me,” Graham told the newspaper.
On Monday, Graham also directed his criticism at Saudi Arabia’s decision to stay on the sidelines of the campaign against Iran.
“It is my understanding the Kingdom refuses to use their capable military as a part of an effort to end the barbaric and terrorist Iranian regime who has terrorized the region and killed 7 Americans,” wrote Graham in a post on X Monday. “Question – why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
The post Lindsey Graham urges Israel not to strike Iranian oil depots even as he says he helped make war happen appeared first on The Forward.
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Belgian officials investigating synagogue explosion as possible act of terrorism
(JTA) — Belgian officials are investigating an explosion in front of a synagogue in Liège early Monday as a possible act of terrorism.
The explosion, which took place at 4 a.m., damaged the door of the historic neo-Romanesque synagogue and blew out the windows of multiple buildings across the street. No injuries were reported.
A range of Belgian politicians, including the prime minister and the mayor of Liège, characterized the explosion as act of antisemitism.
“Antisemitism is an attack on our values and our society, and we must fight it unequivocally,” Prime Minister Bart de Wever said in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community in Liege and across the country.”
The explosion comes amid a surge of concern about possible attacks by agents associated with the Iranian regime, against which the United States and Israel launched a war last week. Iran has a long record of supporting attacks on Jewish targets abroad, including two bombings in the 1990s in Argentina that killed more than 100 people at the Israeli embassy and a Jewish community center. Now, with Iran being pummeled at home, watchdogs are warning that it might lash out through its Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, responsible for attacks abroad.
Azerbaijan said Friday that it had foiled multiple terror attacks planned by Iranian agents on Jewish sites. In London, four men were arrested last week for allegedly spying on the Jewish community for Iran, with the intent of planning attacks against the community. And a string of shootings at synagogues in Toronto has ignited concern in Canada, too.
Iranian agents have taken aim at non-Jewish targets, too. On Friday, a Pakistani man who prosecutors said had been directed by Iran’s IRGC was convicted of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump.
The attack in Liège, in the primarily French-speaking Wallonia province, comes amid a range of recent developments that have unsettled Belgian Jews, who number approximately 30,000. They include antisemitic carnival caricatures in the city of Aalst; a ban on ritual slaughter preventing the local production of kosher meat; and an ongoing row between U.S. and Belgian officials over Jewish circumcision practices. The attack also follows a 2014 shooting in which a gunman associated with the Islamic State, a rival to Iran’s Islamic Republic, shot four people to death at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.
A spokesperson for the Liège police described the effects to the area as “only material damage” to the 1899 building. Rabbi Joshua Nejman told local media that he was hoping that security footage would reveal the perpetrator.
“I’m going to try to calm my heart, because it is beating faster and faster this morning,” said Nejman, who said he had been at the synagogue for 25 years.
“Liege is home to a very small but vibrant Jewish community where I personally grew up,” Eitan Bergman, vice president of the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organisations in Belgium, told Reuters. “Today, the feelings among our community members are a mixture of sadness, worry and profound shock.”
Liege’s mayor, Willy Demeyer, praised the synagogue community to RBTF, Belgium’s French-language national broadcaster. He added, “We cannot allow foreign conflicts to be imported into our city.”
The post Belgian officials investigating synagogue explosion as possible act of terrorism appeared first on The Forward.
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The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life, 2025
In honor of The Algemeiner‘s 12th annual gala, we are proud to present our “J100” list — 100 individuals who have positively influenced Jewish life over the past year.