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Israel looks to make history at under-20 men’s World Cup
BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — Israel’s under-20 men’s national soccer team has arrived in Argentina and is preparing for its first-ever appearance in FIFA’s under-20 World Cup, which begins this weekend.
Israel has only made the general World Cup one time, in 1970.
“I’m 48, and coming to Argentina to play soccer was my dream since I was 10 years old,” said manager Ofir Haim, a former professional player, referencing the level of play in the country that won the most recent World Cup last year.
On Monday afternoon, the team received a warm welcome upon arriving at a hotel in Buenos Aires. Around 80 members of the local Jewish community joined the team at a two-hour event that included speeches and an introductory video. An organizer said it sold out in person within five minutes.
But at the same time as the welcome event, around 10 blocks away, a group of demonstrators participated in a protest commemorating the Nakba, the term meaning “catastrophe” that Palestinians use to describe their displacement during and after Israel’s founding.
“The [Israeli] national soccer team is the most representative team in the country because it is composed of the diversity that comprises the state of Israel, a state of all of its citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity,” said Alejandro Mellincovsky, the director for Spanish-speaking countries at the World Zionist Organization, which organized Monday’s welcome event. The Israeli team includes three Arab players.
The tournament was not originally slated to be played in Argentina. Former host country Indonesia objected to Israel’s participation, arguing that it had agreed to host the tournament before knowing that Israel would qualify.
In response, FIFA, the global soccer organization that runs the World Cup and its accompanying tournaments, stripped Indonesia of its hosting rights in March.
“We knew that Indonesia would reject us, but we were confident to represent Israel with pride everywhere,” Haim said to applause at Monday’s event.
El Yam Kancepolsky speaks at a welcome event for the Israeli team in Buenos Aires, May 15, 2023. Team manager Ofir Haim is on right. (Leonardo Kremenchuzky/World Zionist Organization)
On the field, the squad will be eager to prove the surprise success that got them to the World Cup — a run to the finals of the UEFA under-19 European championship last year — was not a fluke. In the initial group stage, they will play Colombia on Sunday, May 21; Senegal on Wednesday, May 24; and Japan a week from this Saturday, May 27. The top two teams from each group advance to the next stage.
“We came here to win the trophy,” midfielder El Yam Kancepolsky told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Kancepolsky was born to a surfer father in Hawaii but raised in Israel, where his dad opened the country’s first “surf center” (El Yam means “to the sea”). He will be one of the team’s top players after it was announced that lead scorer and star Oscar Gloukh did not obtain permission to play in the tournament from his club team, Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg.
The only other player on the roster who currently plays on a European team is Tai Abed, who suits up for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. (Rising Israeli star Manor Solomon, who plays in the English Premier League for Fulham, is 23.)
The team has the opportunity to make history: The only goal Israel scored in a major FIFA tournament was kicked by Mordechai “Motaleh” Spiegler against Sweden, in the Mexico 1970 World Cup.
Israel was kicked out of the Asian Football Conference in 1974 and since 1994 has played in international tournaments through UEFA, the European soccer federation that offers more difficult competition.
Besides the general World Cup, which takes place every four years, and the U-20 World Cup, which takes place every two years, FIFA also holds an U-17 World Cup.
“I’m very proud to represent Israel in a World Cup, it is a huge dream,” Kancepolsky said.
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The post Israel looks to make history at under-20 men’s World Cup appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Amid Iran Standoff, Witkoff and Kushner Pose Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier
Steve Witkoff (R) aboard the aircraft carrier Lincoln. Photo via i24 / social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law
i24 News – Special US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited on Saturday the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier.
The duo, who led the US in the indirect nuclear talks with Iran on Friday, visited the aircraft carrier at the invitation of US Central Command chief, Adm. Brad Cooper.
The carrier arrived in the region last week as part of a US “armada” amid rising tensions with the Islamic regime of Iran. It is stationed in the Arabian Sea.
The visit came hours after US President Donald Trump stated that while the talks went well, “But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should. Last time, they decided maybe not to do it, but I think they probably feel differently. We’ll see what the deal is. It’ll be different than last time. And we have a big armada. We have a big fleet heading in that direction. It’ll be there pretty soon. So we’ll see how that works out.”
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Pentagon Says It Will Cut Academic Ties With Harvard University
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to administer the oath to U.S. Army National Guard soldiers during a re-enlistment ceremony at the base of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Friday his department was ending professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University, marking the Trump administration’s latest escalation against the school.
President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on top US universities, including Harvard, over a range of issues such as pro-Palestinian protests against US ally Israel’s assault on Gaza, diversity programs, transgender policies and climate initiatives.
“Starting now and beginning in the 2026-27 school year, I am discontinuing all graduate level Professional Military Education (PME), all fellowships and certificate programs between Harvard University and the War Department for active duty service members,” Hegseth, who himself holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, said on X.
The policy will apply to service members enrolling in future programs while those currently enrolled will be allowed to finish their courses, Hegseth said.
He also added that the Pentagon will evaluate similar relationships with other universities in the coming weeks.
Rights advocates have raised free speech, academic freedom and due process concerns over the government’s actions against universities.
A Harvard spokesperson directed Reuters to a page on the history of the university’s ties with the US military that says Harvard has played a “significant role” in America’s military traditions since the nation’s founding.
TRUMP-HARVARD TENSIONS CONTINUE
The university has previously sued the Trump administration over the government’s attempt to freeze federal funding.
Hegseth accused Harvard of “hate America activism,” also calling the university antisemitic in a reference to pro-Palestinian protests.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza with antisemitism and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.
Harvard has condemned discrimination on campus. Its antisemitism and Islamophobia task forces found last year that Jews and Muslims faced bigotry after the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack.
Trump’s attempts to freeze federal funds for Harvard have faced legal resistance and the two sides have failed to reach a deal thus far.
Trump said this week his administration was seeking $1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into school policies.
Some Ivy League schools have reached agreements with the Trump administration and accepted certain government demands. Columbia University has agreed to pay more than $220 million to the government while Brown University has agreed to pay $50 million to support local workforce development.
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Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs the joint declaration of mutual recognition with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, officially establishing full diplomatic relations between the two nations. Photo: Screenshot
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday.
Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. Both sides said more talks were expected to be held again soon.
A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted on its “right to enrich uranium” during the negotiations with the US, and that Tehran’s missile capabilities were not raised in the discussions.
Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran’s missiles – one of the largest such arsenals in the Middle East – up for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.
PRIME MINISTER SEEKS MISSILE CURBS
“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Wednesday’s meeting would be the seventh between Netanyahu and Trump since the US president returned to office in January last year.
The pair had been expected to meet on February 18, but the talks were brought forward amid the renewed engagement with Iran. A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately comment on why the date was moved up.
Last June, the US joined an Israeli military campaign against Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear installations, marking the most direct American military action ever against the Islamic Republic.
Iran retaliated by launching a missile attack on a US base in Qatar.
The US and Israel have repeatedly warned Iran that they would strike again if Tehran pressed ahead with its enrichment and ballistic missile programs.
World powers and regional states fear a breakdown in the negotiations would ignite another conflict between the US and Iran that could spill over to the rest of the oil-producing region.
Iran has vowed a harsh response to any strike and has cautioned neighboring Gulf Arab countries that host US bases that they could be in the firing line if they were involved in an attack.