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Brad Ausmus and Kevin Youkilis join Team Israel coaching staff for 2023 World Baseball Classic
(JTA) — Former MLB All-Stars Brad Ausmus and Kevin Youkilis have joined Team Israel as coaches ahead of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
The team’s manager, Ian Kinsler, a former Jewish MLB All-Star himself — and a former Team Israel player — announced the news Tuesday on the Flippin’ Bats baseball podcast hosted by Ben Verlander, an analyst and former minor leaguer (and brother of ace pitcher Justin Verlander).
“There’s going to be some guys with some great experience that I can lean on a little bit and I just think it’s going to be a great tournament,” said Kinsler, a former second baseman and World Series champion who acknowledged that he is nervous to manage for the first time.
WBC NEWS – ISRAEL
Israel manager Ian Kinsler named 3 coaches who will be joining the staff for the World Baseball Classic:
Kevin Youkilis – hitting coach
Brad Ausmus
Jerry Narron
(@FlippinBatsPod) pic.twitter.com/SuMxZQgZTG
— Shawn (@Shawn_Spradling) December 29, 2022
Ausmus, himself a former Team Israel manager, has five years of experience as a manager in the big leagues. He coached Kinsler on the Detroit Tigers from 2014 to 2017 and also helmed the Los Angeles Angels in 2019. Over the course of an 18-year playing career, Ausmus won three Gold Glove awards for his defense.
Growing up, Ausmus occasionally celebrated the holidays with his mother’s side of the family, but he has said that coaching Team Israel brought him more in touch with his Jewish roots.
The fan favorite Youkilis was an accomplished big-league hitter during his 10-year MLB career, spent primarily with the Boston Red Sox. He won two World Series titles with the Sox, made three All-Star teams and also won a Gold Glove award. He will serve as Team Israel’s hitting coach, despite having no prior coaching experience.
Since he retired in 2014, Youkilis has run an award-winning brewery in California, and in 2022, became a part-time Red Sox broadcaster.
The Greek-sounding surname was not the family’s original last name; family lore has it that a relative escaped persecution in Romania in the 1800s and took on the name of a family friend for protection. Youkilis had a bar mitzvah in a Conservative synagogue.
In addition, Jerry Narron, who has 30 years of experience as a manager or coach with eight different MLB teams and served as third base coach for Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier, is rejoining the Team Israel coaching staff. Narron is a Christian Zionist and frequently visits his daughter who lives in Jerusalem.
Kinsler played for the victorious Team USA in the 2017 tournament, and later joined Team Israel for the 2020 Olympics. Since he signed on to manage the team in June, he has recruited the highest number of MLB players yet for the squad’s roster, including All-Star outfielder Joc Pederson and pitchers Dean Kremer and Eli Morgan.
“It means so much to the players when they wear the jerseys of their home country or whoever they’re representing,” Kinsler said on the podcast. “It just means so much to them, and to be a part of it, to experience it, the energy, the environment, was just incredible.”
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The post Brad Ausmus and Kevin Youkilis join Team Israel coaching staff for 2023 World Baseball Classic appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Strikes More Than 90 Iranian Military Targets on Kharg Island, CENTCOM Says
A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. Photo: 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
United States forces executed a large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island in Iran on Friday night, the US Central Command said on Saturday.
“US forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure,” CENTCOM said.
The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, the US military said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to strike the oil infrastructure of Iran’s Kharg Island hub, unless Tehran stopped attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
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North Korea Fires Ten Ballistic Missiles Toward the Sea of Japan
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol Ju inspect an honour guard before leaving Pyongyang for a visit to China, this January 7, 2019 photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang January 8, 2019. Photo: KCNA via REUTERS.
i24 News – North Korea fired roughly ten ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, the South Korean military reported, marking a new act of defiance amid Seoul and Washington’s annual joint military exercises.
The launches, originating from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, were detected around 1:20 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The missiles were directed toward the East Sea—the Korean name for the Sea of Japan—though details on their range or trajectory were not immediately available. Earlier, the South Korean Ministry of Defense had already confirmed the launch of at least one unidentified projectile in the same area.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense also verified the incident, noting that a suspected ballistic missile had been launched from North Korea.
The launches come amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Since Monday, the United States and South Korea have been conducting their annual joint exercises, which will continue through March 19 and involve approximately 18,000 South Korean troops alongside an unspecified number of U.S. forces.
Pyongyang has sharply criticized the drills, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned this week that the exercises could trigger “terrible and unimaginable consequences.”
The missile tests also coincide with fading prospects for inter-Korean dialogue. Kim Jong-un recently dismissed outreach efforts from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, labeling Seoul “the most hostile enemy.”
The show of force occurred just hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, during a visit to the United States, mentioned a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un—a meeting Washington still considers possible.
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Dutch Authorities Investigate Explosion at Jewish School Claimed by Extremist Group
Police outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – An explosion struck a Jewish school on Zeelandstraat in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert during the night between Friday and Saturday, Dutch authorities confirmed. Emergency responders, including police and firefighters, acted swiftly, and officials reported that the building suffered only limited damage. No injuries have been reported.
Mayor Femke Halsema described the incident as a deliberate attack against the Jewish community in the city, emphasizing that the authorities are treating the case “very seriously.” Security camera footage showing the individual who detonated the device is under investigation.
In an unverified online video, previously little-known group identifying itself as Ashab Al Yamim later claimed responsibility for the blast. The group released online footage appearing to show the small explosion followed by a fire outside the school. Its logo was also seen in videos related to an attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam earlier this week.
Dutch investigators are coordinating with the judiciary to determine the full circumstances of the attack and whether additional suspects were involved. Authorities noted that the organization had not been previously known to security services.
The explosion comes amid rising security concerns for Jewish institutions across Europe, following heightened tensions in the Middle East. The group behind the claim has also alleged responsibility for previous incidents targeting Jewish sites in Europe, including attacks in Liège, Belgium, and Rotterdam, though these claims remain unverified.
Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers across the continent have stepped up security measures in recent weeks amid fears of potential threats to Jewish communities.