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Yankees outfielder Harrison Bader drops out of Team Israel’s World Baseball Classic roster, citing injuries
(JTA) — New York Yankees outfielder Harrison Bader, whose father is Jewish, shared this week that he will no longer play for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, citing a desire to remain healthy after an injury-plagued 2022 season. The 2023 Major League Baseball season begins only days after the WBC concludes in March.
But Bader did not rule out the possibility of playing for Israel in the future.
“When it comes back around and the opportunity’s extended, I would absolutely consider it much more, and we’ll kind of go from there,” he said on the New York Post’s baseball podcast.
Bader’s Yankee teammate Scott Effross, a reliever who posted a stellar 2.54 earned-run average in 2022, had also planned to play for Team Israel. But he had to undergo Tommy John surgery this fall, which will likely keep him off the field for at least a year.
Thanks to a recruiting effort by former All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler, who is now Team Israel’s manager after previously playing for it during the 2020 Olympics, the squad remains loaded with major league talent.
According to publicly released information and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s reporting, here are some of Team Israel’s key current roster pieces:
Pitchers: Dean Kremer (Baltimore Orioles), Jake Bird (Colorado Rockies), Eli Morgan (Cleveland Guardians), Zack Weiss (Los Angeles Angels), Richard Bleier (Miami Marlins), Jake Fishman (Marlins organization), Robert Stock (plays in Korea), Bubby Rossman (free agent)
Infielder: Ty Kelly (free agent)
Catcher: Ryan Lavarnway (free agent)
Outfielders: Joc Pederson (San Francisco Giants), Kevin Pillar (free agent)
All told, the Israeli team could feature up to a dozen major league players. One contributing factor is that Israel’s group in the WBC will play in Miami, close to many MLB team’s spring training facilities.
“Team Israel has shown well,” Kinsler told JTA in October. “Being in Miami makes [players’] decisions easier. All of those things led to more opportunities for more players. I think we get more accomplished players.”
Another element is Israel’s continued success on the international stage. The team reached seventh place at the 2017 WBC and was one of just six teams to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
With the tournament still months away, the recruitment continues.
Houston Astros star Jewish third baseman Alex Bregman, who played for the U.S. team in 2017, does not plan to play in the tournament. Atlanta Braves ace pitcher Max Fried has thus far been noncommittal, according to Team Israel’s general manager Peter Kurz. Catcher Garrett Stubbs, a backup on the Philadelphia Phillies, is considering joining the team. Milwaukee Brewers slugging first baseman Rowdy Tellez, who has a Mexican father and Jewish mother, has committed to play for Mexico.
Kinsler said his biggest recruit so far — Pederson, who has become a star in recent years by helping multiple teams earn World Series victories — is helping with the effort.
“Joc’s making phone calls and sending texts and is doing his best,” Kinsler said. “He wants to play on a competitive team.”
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Iran to Boycott World Cup Draw Over Visa Restrictions
Soccer Football – World Cup Playoff Tournament and European Playoff draws – FIFA Headquarters, Zurich, Switzerland- November 20, 2025 The original FIFA World Cup trophy is kept on display during the draws. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Iran intends to boycott next week’s World Cup draw due to the limited number of visas allocated to the country’s football federation.
According to the Tehran Times, the United States issued visas to only four members of Iran‘s delegation, with requests for three additional visas denied, including one for Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) President Mehdi Taj.
“We have informed FIFA that the decisions taken are unrelated to sport and that the members of the Iranian delegation will not participate in the World Cup draw,” FFIRI spokesman Mehdi Alavi said on Friday, per the report.
Alavi said the federation has been in contact with FIFA in an effort to resolve the situation.
The World Cup draw will take place on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The expanded 48-team World Cup is being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Matches will be played at 16 venues, including three in Mexico and two in Canada.
The draw will sort the teams into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group and the eight best third-place teams will advance to the knockout stage.
Iran has secured a spot in its fourth consecutive World Cup and seventh appearance overall.
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Dublin to Rename Chaim Herzog Park in a Move Slammed as Attempt to Erase Jewish History
Anti-Israel demonstrators stand outside the Israeli embassy after Ireland has announced it will recognize a Palestinian state, in Dublin, Ireland, May 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Molly Darlington
i24 News – Citing the Gaza war, Dublin city council voted to rename a park honoring Israel’s sixth president, the Irish-born Chaim Herzog, in further manifestation of anti-Israel sentiment in the country.
While a new name is yet to be chosen, reports cite efforts by pro-Palestinian activists to change it to the “Free Palestine Park.”
Former Irish justice minister Alan Shatter harshly criticized the vote, charging that “Dublin City Council has now gone full on Nazi & a committee of the Council has determined it should erase Jewish/Irish history. Herzog Park in Rathgar is named after Chaim Herzog, Israel’s 6th President, brought up in Dublin by his father, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, a friend of Eamon De Valera, who was Chief Rabbi of Ireland & Israel’s first Chief Rabbi… Some councillors want the Park renamed ‘Free Palestine Park.”
The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland issued a statement regarding the renaming of Herzog Park.
“It sends a hurtful and isolating message to a small minority community that has contributed to Ireland for centuries. We call on Dublin City Councillors to reject this motion. The removal of the Herzog name from this park would be widely understood as an attempt to erase our Irish Jewish history.”
A virtuoso diplomat and an intellectual giant, Herzog had served in a variety of roles throughout his storied career, including a memorable stint as the ambassador to the United Nations, where in 1975 he delivered a speech condemning the Soviet-engineered resolution to brand Zionism as a form of racism. The address is now regarded as a classic, along with the oration from the same session by the US Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar slammed the decision, saying that Ireland’s “antisemitic and anti-Israel obsession is sickening.”
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Qatar’s Al Thani to Visit Beirut Wednesday to Meet with Lebanon’s Leaders
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani makes statements to the media with then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 13, 2023. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani will visit Beirut on Wednesday to meet with Lebanon’s leaders, Al-Jadeed reported Saturday.
The visit comes “as part of an effort inseparable from the efforts by Egypt in coordination with Arab countries, foremost among them Saudi Arabia.”
The trip coincides with a sensitive period for the country, ravaged by war and deep economic crisis.
Lebanon is under growing pressure from both Israel and the United States to more swiftly disarm Hezbollah and other Islamist groups across the country, with Israel increasingly inclined to stop the Shiite militia from rearming and rebuilding its infrastructure.
Hezbollah was left devastated in the aftermath of a nine-day war last year, that saw Israel take out its command structure and lay waste to a significant proportion of its missile arsenal.