Uncategorized
Israeli and Dominican teams host a ceremony to promote friendship at the World Baseball Classic
MIAMI (JTA) — Hours before Israel and the Dominican Republic were to take the field as competitors in the World Baseball Classic, players and management gathered at a local park to promote friendship between the two countries and to raise awareness for the common fight against hatred and antisemitism.
Hosted by the Israel Association of Baseball and the Philos Project — a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes Christian relations with Israel — the ceremony brought together players and coaches representing both countries, along with a group of local teen baseball players, including from the nearby David Posnack Jewish Day School.
Earlier in the day, Israel and the Dominican Republic also signed a memorandum of understanding to emphasize the friendship between the two countries.
The event was a follow-up to an Israel trip a number of Dominican players took last fall, with the Philos Project. And later this year, there will be a charity softball game in the Dominican Republic between Dominican and Jewish-American players.
“We are unfortunately living in a time when antisemitism and racism are still in vogue, perhaps more popular now than ever in the U.S.,” IAB president Jordy Alter said in his remarks. “It is imperative that young individuals such as yourselves internalize the message you hear today and create your own nonviolent resistance against all forms of hate and racism.”
Alter said the gathering was inspired by the White Rose Holocaust resistance movement, a group of non-Jewish German medical students who spoke out against the Nazi regime. The leaders were eventually executed by the Nazis. Organizers of Tuesday’s event handed out white roses.
The crowd heard from Alter, Philos’ director of Hispanic affairs Jesse Rojo, as well as Israel manager Ian Kinsler, Israel player Dean Kremer, the Dominican team’s general manager, MLB star Nelson Cruz and Dominican player Jeimer Candelario.
Israel manager Ian Kinsler and Dominican players Jeimer Candelario and Nelson Cruz answer questions from local teens. (Jacob Gurvis)
Rojo, who grew up in New York’s Washington Heights, spoke about the historic relationship between the Jewish and Dominican communities, from his neighborhood in Manhattan all the way back to 1938, when the Dominican Republic was the only country to welcome in Jewish refugees fleeing Europe.
“Today more than ever, we need to bring that back,” Rojo told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “When there’s so much hate, so much polarization. Where we already have the historical heritage, and take that from our ancestors and take it to the next generation.”
For Kremer, the first Israeli player drafted into Major League Baseball, the event was a sign of baseball’s power as a platform for unity.
“It represents a lot for both sides, between the peace and the growing of the game, and antisemitism and all of it together,” Kremer told JTA. “It means a lot having another ally. That, I think, is the biggest thing, in not only growing the game but also making friends with countries that may not know about our history.”
Cruz, an 18-year MLB veteran with almost 500 career home runs, spoke about the importance of spreading love.
“Right now, what’s connecting us is baseball, and a love of baseball,” he said, addressing the teens. “God created us all equal, it doesn’t matter what color, what gender you’re coming from. We should all stay together.”
Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, Israel’s consul general in Miami, has been supporting Team Israel throughout the WBC, and was also at this morning’s ceremony.
“Israel is a leading country in technology and agriculture and security, but now to learn from [the Dominican Republic] about baseball, and certainly to work here with kids on fighting racism, antisemitism, all the virtues that sports brings — tolerance, sportsmanship — that’s a great event,” Elbaz-Starinsky told JTA.
After the opening remarks, the teens had a chance to ask questions — mostly about baseball.
Baltimore Orioles and Team Israel pitcher Dean Kremer signs an autograph for a player from the David Posnak Jewish Day School. (Jacob Gurvis)
“I think it’s really meaningful to see Team Israel at the World Baseball Classic,” said Ryan Novick, a 17-year-old player on the Posnack School’s varsity baseball team.
Novick, who works in data analytics with the Miami Dolphins and will soon attend Vanderbilt University, added that it’s great “to see that Israel’s relations across the world are starting to flourish,” and that it’s an added bonus when baseball can serve as a vehicle to that end.
Wayne Stofsky, the athletic director at the Posnack school, and a gold medal-winning Maccabiah baseball coach, highlighted how special it is for his players to meet Jewish players like Kremer and Kinsler.
“It’s not every day they get the opportunity to see professional athletes, and athletes that are Jewish, just like them,” Stofsky told JTA.
Following the Q&A, the entire group gathered on the field to take photos, pose with the two countries’ flags and hear the national anthems for Israel, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.
—
The post Israeli and Dominican teams host a ceremony to promote friendship at the World Baseball Classic appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Lebanese President, Hezbollah Split Over Expanded Talks With Israel
A civil defense member stands on rubble at a damaged site after Israel’s military said it struck targets in two southern Lebanese towns in Jbaa, southern Lebanon, Dec. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ali Hankir
Lebanon’s president on Friday defended his decision to expand talks with Israel as a way to avoid further violence, but the head of Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah called it a blunder, lifting the lid on divisions at a watershed moment for the country.
Israel and Lebanon on Wednesday both sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, a step toward a months-old US demand that the two countries broaden talks in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace agenda.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun told visiting representatives of the United Nations Security Council that his country “has adopted the option of negotiations with Israel” and that “there is no going back.”
“These negotiations are mainly aimed at stopping the hostile actions carried out by Israel on Lebanese territory, securing the return of the captives, scheduling the withdrawal from the occupied areas, and resolving the disputed points along the Blue Line,” Aoun said in a statement on Friday, referring to the UN-mapped line that separates Israel from Lebanon.
HEZBOLLAH CALLS MOVE ‘FREE CONCESSION’
But the expanded talks were criticized by Iran-backed Hezbollah, an armed Islamist group that for years has wielded significant influence across Lebanon. However, Israel decimated the terrorist group’s leadership and military capabilities last fall after a year of fighting, significantly diminishing Hezbollah’s political clout in Lebanon.
Its head, Naim Qassem, said on Friday afternoon that sending a civilian delegate to the truce monitoring committee was a “blunder,” and urged the government to rethink its decision.
“You offered a free concession that will not change anything in the enemy’s [Israel‘s] position or its attacks,” Qassem said.
Lebanon and Israel have been officially enemy states for more than 70 years, and meetings between their civilian officials have been extraordinarily rare throughout their fraught history.
Over the last year, military officials have met as part of a committee, chaired by the United States, to monitor a 2024 truce that ended more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah which badly weakened the Iran-backed group.
In that time, Israel has continued its air strikes on what it says are Hezbollah‘s attempts to re-arm in violation of the truce. Lebanon says those strikes and Israel‘s occupation of southern Lebanese territory are ceasefire breaches.
Fears are growing in Lebanon that Israel could expand its air campaign further to ratchet up pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah more swiftly across the country.
The group has refused to disarm in full and has raised the specter of internal strife if the state tries to confront it.
Uncategorized
Iran Holds Drills in Gulf, Firing Ballistic, Cruise Missiles at Simulated Targets
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
The Navy of Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic and cruise missiles at simulated targets in the Gulf on Friday during a two-day military exercise aimed at countering foreign threats, state media reported.
Earlier, Iran hosted an anti-terrorism drill in its northwestern province of East Azerbaijan with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which, according to state Press TV, was intended to signal both “peace and friendship” to neighboring states and warn enemies that “any miscalculation would meet a decisive response.”
The ground and naval exercises follow a 12-day air war between Israel and Iran in June, during which the US joined Israel in striking Iran‘s nuclear facilities.
State media reported a massive launch of Qadr 110, Qadr 380, and Qadr 360 cruise missiles and 303 ballistic missiles at targets in the Gulf of Oman. Drones simultaneously struck simulated enemy bases, the reports said.
The IRGC Navy began its exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.
It emphasized what it said was its heightened artificial intelligence readiness and the “unwavering spirit and resistance” of its sailors in confronting any threat.
The West sees Iran‘s ballistic missiles both as a conventional military threat to regional stability and a possible delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons should Tehran develop them.
The land drills in the northwest were the latest in a series of SCO exercises aimed at enhancing coordination among member and partner states. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Azerbaijan also took part in the cross-border counterterrorism exercises.
The SCO, a Eurasian security and economic bloc founded in 2001 to combat terrorism, separatism, and extremism, often conducts joint military exercises among its members.
The organization includes China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and several Central Asian countries, with observer and dialogue partners such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and others participating in selected operations.
Uncategorized
Eurovision Faces Budget Squeeze After Walkouts Over Israel
Journalists stand in front of a screen in Wiener Stadthalle, the venue of next year’s Eurovision in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
The Eurovision Song Contest was facing a potential budget squeeze after Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia said they would withdraw from next year’s competition in protest of Israel‘s participation.
The planned boycott brought to a head a row that has overshadowed the past two contests, and followed threats by the four they would pull out if the organizer did not exclude Israel over the conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The walkout by Spain, one of the “big five” backers of the contest, and two of Europe’s wealthiest countries, raises the prospect of less sponsorship income and viewers for the extravaganza that draws millions of viewers worldwide.
AUSTRIA TO HOST EUROVISION IN MAY
Austria will host the next edition in May, and national broadcaster ORF said the loss of the four would be felt – but would not prevent a successful show.
“Overall, it would of course be a financial burden if several countries did not participate, but we had already taken this into account,” ORF chief Roland Weissmann said.
Members of the contest organizer, the European Broadcasting Union, on Thursday resisted calls by critics for a vote on Israel‘s participation, instead passing new rules aimed at discouraging governments from influencing the competition.
“There are no winners here regardless of whether Israel‘s in or out, the whole thing feels a little bit toxic now,” said Eurovision expert Paul Jordan, who noted the walkouts would hit the budget and viewership.
Israel‘s 1998 Eurovision winner, Dana International, saw the boycott as insulting. “You don’t punish an entire country because you disagree politically with its government,” she said.
Ireland’s 1994 winner, Paul Harrington, said politics and world events were hard for the competition to avoid.
“It’s difficult, although it would be lovely to say, let’s have this little moment every year where we forget about everything,” he told Reuters from Dublin.
BROADCASTERS CONTRIBUTE TO FINANCING
The contest is mostly financed by contributions from broadcasters, the hosts, and sponsorship and revenue from the event, according to the Eurovision website. It does not disclose details of how much each country pays.
Contributions from some 40 participating broadcasters are divvied up on the principle that the strongest shoulder the biggest burden. It also includes a contribution from the host broadcaster generally worth between 10 and 20 million euros.
The host city also contributes, buttressed by revenues from sponsorship, ticket sales, televoting, and merchandise.
About 5.8 million viewers in Spain watched Eurovision 2025, Spanish broadcaster RTVE said. In the Netherlands, an average of 3.4 million people tuned in, Dutch broadcaster AvroTros said. Both declined to give details on their financial contributions.
Irish broadcaster RTE said it had paid an annual EBU fee to participate in the 2025 contest of 100,270 euros.
Contest director Martin Green says Eurovision is financially secure, and that any loss of audience could be compensated by the return of Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova next year.
Still, the combined population of the four protesting nations is more than 2-1/2 times that of the three returners. And their combined economic output is many times greater.
Israel‘s 2025 entrant, Yuval Raphael, was at the Nova music festival, a target of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.
A total of 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the assault by Hamas. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s rule in neighboring Gaza.