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Lacrosse is on the rise in Israel, as its men’s national team enters the world championship ranked 7th
(JTA) — Days after Israel’s under-20 soccer team shocked the world with a third-place finish in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, another one of the country’s national teams is looking for international glory — this time in a sport played by few in Israel.
The 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship begins on Wednesday in San Diego, and Israel is ranked seventh among the 30 teams. They were ranked second in Europe coming into the tournament.
Those rankings might surprise the average Israeli. Today, the Israel Lacrosse Association estimates that between 300 and 400 Israeli children and teens play the sport across the country, and that’s after over a decade of recruitment and youth development. Israel’s national lacrosse team is mostly made up of American-born Jews. The lacrosse association, based out of the Daniel Kraft Family National Lacrosse Center in Ashkelon, was founded by one American in 2010 and is currently run by another American.
But two of the 23 players on the national team are Israeli natives, and the women’s national team has one native Israeli, too — something Israel Lacrosse Executive Director Ian Kadish says is a meaningful increase in how the sport is spreading.
“We are now getting to a really exciting point in our organization where a lot of that leadership and a lot of that energy is coming from native-born Israelis,” Kadish told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Yakov Silberlicht, who is Israel Lacrosse’s director of youth development and the men’s team captain, pointed to another telling statistic: Israel’s under-21 men’s team, which competed in Ireland last summer, featured 19 native Israelis out of 23 players. And the women’s under-21 team, which is preparing for the U21 European Lacrosse Championships in Prague next month, is also almost entirely Israeli.
“That’s what gets me fired up and makes me tick and gets me out of bed every morning, is just opening that door and offering the opportunity to those young [Israeli] men and women to be able to play for our national teams,” said Silberlicht, who is also an American expat.
Even in areas where lacrosse is more prominent, such as Canada and the Northeast United States (which have combined to win every edition of the first 14 men’s world championships), it is still considered a niche sport compared to baseball, football and other major sports. According to a study by the Aspen Institute, 466,000 Americans aged 13-17 played lacrosse in 2019, compared to the more than 2 million who play baseball and the more than 3 million who play basketball.
David Wiseman, who tracks Israeli sports for his popular Facebook page Follow Team Israel, commended Israel Lacrosse for the progress it has made, including the opportunities it has opened up for female athletes.
“The fact that they can get it flourishing in Israel is remarkable,” he told JTA. “They’ve punched above their weight by like 3 million percent.”
Israel has also begun hosting international tournaments, including the 2018 men’s international championship and the 2019 Women’s European Championship. (During the 2018 men’s championship — the biggest-ever contest, with 46 participating teams — Israel offered free tours of Jerusalem to the teams and their delegations.)
Originally from Utica, New York, Silberlicht, 31, has lived in Israel for 10 years now. That was never part of his plan.
Growing up, he said he didn’t know much about Israel or have interest in visiting. But after he graduated from college in 2013, an opportunity to play lacrosse in Israel fell into his lap, and he went for it.
He started off coaching and playing for the national team in the 2014 championship, where Israel finished in seventh. What was initially intended to be a year-long stay turned into six more months and six more months after that, until eventually Silberlicht found himself staying permanently. He served in the Israel Defense Forces in a combat role from 2015 to 2017.
Yakov Silberlicht, in the red shirt, is the director of youth development for Israel Lacrosse. (Courtesy of the Israel Lacrosse Association)
“My Jewish identity wasn’t super strong growing up. I think that that’s partially because something like Israel Lacrosse didn’t exist,” he said. “I didn’t want to go to Sunday school because I wanted to go play sports instead… Had I had something like [Israel Lacrosse] to relate to and to identify with, I think that it could have stuck a little bit more and been more meaningful to me.”
Kadish’s introduction to Israel Lacrosse was similar. Growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kadish, 27, said he “could not have cared less” about Judaism or Israel. But as a college lacrosse player, he participated in a lacrosse-themed Birthright trip — which his organization still runs today.
“I had that transformational moment that how many kids have when they come and visit Israel, where I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, this is way different,’” Kadish recalled.
He extended his stay, founded a youth lacrosse team and began playing on the national team. Years later, he splits his time between the United States and Israel, and he runs the Israel Lacrosse Association. He too plays for the national team.
Kadish said he values the opportunity to “allow kids to form their own unique relationship with Judaism, with Israel, through their passion of sport.”
Much of the organization’s recruitment happens through grassroots efforts, including school visits, service trips and relentless outreach. Kadish acknowledged that they have to “work hard as hell” to overcome the predominance of soccer and basketball in Israel.
But 13 years into Israel Lacrosse’s existence, Kadish said it’s the progress that has been made in the organization’s youth engagement that he is most proud of — more so than a No. 2 ranking in Europe and the hosting of international competitions in Israel.
“When you’re on a lacrosse field in Israel with all these kids running around just being kids, you’re like, ‘okay, this is what matters, this is why I do this,’” Kadish said. “When I see a young Israeli kid who I physically put the stick in his or her hand for the first time at the school visit, and now that player is on the sideline, coaching other kids in Hebrew — you see this full-circle moment.”
In other international arenas — namely baseball — Israeli teams have attempted to recruit the most talented American Jews they can find to compete on behalf of Israel, regardless of the players’ past connections to Israel. In lacrosse, Kadish said they try to avoid that tactic. While much of the team is American-born, Kadish said he seeks people who have spent time living in Israel and are committed to the organization’s work.
“What is at the core of our mission? What is Israel lacrosse about? It’s about developing the sport of lacrosse in Israel,” he said. “And it’s about engaging the Jewish Diaspora. If you haven’t helped us, if you haven’t been a part of those things, I’m not sure you deserve the right to play on Team Israel.”
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Report: US, Israel Preparing for Resumptions of Strikes Against Iran
US President Donald Trump speaks during an event to sign a memorandum in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Evan Vucci
i24 News – The United States and Israel are engaged in intense preparations — the largest since the cease-fire took effect — for the possible resumption of attacks against Iran as early as next week, the New York Times reported Saturday citing two Middle East officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Mako News reported Israeli official sources as saying that US President Donald Trump is expected to convene his closest team of advisors in the next 24 hours to make a final decision on the Iran matter. Israel estimates that a decision on military action may be made very soon, the report added.
According to NYT, should Trump decide to resume military strikes, options include more aggressive raids targeting Iranian military and infrastructure targets, US officials said.
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Trump Says Xi Agrees Iran Must Open Strait, But No Sign China Will Weigh In
US President Donald Trump participates in events at the Great Hall of the People and does a greeting with the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping May 14, 2026, in Beijing China during a trip focused on trade, regional security, and strengthening bilateral ties between the world’s two largest economies. Photo: Kenny Holston/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
US President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though China gave no indication it would weigh in.
Flying back from Beijing on Friday after two days of talks with Xi, Trump said he was considering whether to lift US sanctions on Chinese oil companies buying Iranian oil. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil.
“I’m not asking for any favors because when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return,” Trump said when asked by a reporter on Air Force One whether Xi had made a firm commitment to put pressure on the Iranians to reopen the strait.
Xi did not comment on his discussions with Trump about Iran, although China’s foreign ministry criticized the war, calling it a conflict “which should never have happened, has no reason to continue.”
‘WE WANT THE STRAITS OPEN’
Iran has effectively shut the strait, which carried one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supply before the US and Israel launched attacks on February 28. The disruption to shipping has caused the biggest oil supply crisis in history, pushing up oil prices.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said on Saturday that Tehran had prepared a mechanism to manage traffic through the strait along a designated route that would be unveiled soon.
Azizi said only commercial vessels and parties cooperating with Iran would benefit, and that fees would be collected for specialized services provided under the mechanism.
Thousands of Iranians were killed in the US and Israeli airstrikes. Thousands more have been killed in Lebanon in fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, though Israel and Lebanon agreed on Friday to a 45-day extension of a ceasefire that has tamped down the conflict there.
The US paused its attacks last month but began a port blockade. As of Saturday, 78 commercial ships had been redirected and four disabled to ensure compliance with the blockade, the US military said.
Tehran, which carried out strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states after the war began, has said it will not unblock the strait until the US ends its blockade. Trump has threatened to resume attacks if Iran does not agree to a deal.
“We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon, we want the straits open,” Trump said in Beijing, alongside Xi.
Iran, which has long denied it intends to build a nuclear weapon, has refused to end nuclear research or relinquish its hidden stockpile of enriched uranium.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran had received messages from the US indicating Washington was willing to continue talks.
Pakistan has been mediating between Washington and Tehran. Iranian news agency Nournews said Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni had held “detailed” discussions with his visiting Pakistani counterpart on Iran-Pakistan relations and the prospects for resuming peace talks, but gave no details.
TRUMP LOSING PATIENCE
Trump, who told Fox News’ “Hannity” program in an interview aired on Thursday that he was losing patience with Iran, said Tehran “should make a deal.”
Oil prices rose around 3 percent to around $109 a barrel on Friday [O/R] on concerns about a lack of progress in resolving the conflict.
Talks on ending the war, which has become a liability for Trump ahead of US congressional elections in November, have been on hold since last week when Iran and the US each rejected the other’s most recent proposals.
Araqchi said on Friday that Iran would welcome Chinese input, adding that Tehran was trying to give diplomacy a chance but did not trust the US, which has curtailed previous rounds of talks by launching air strikes.
When the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran at the end of February, they said one of their aims was to weaken the authorities so Iranians could topple the government.
There has been little sign of organized dissent in Iran during the war, and rights groups say the government has cracked down heavily on its opponents.
Iran’s judiciary said on Saturday that 39 people had been executed for collaborating with Israeli or US spy agencies, or taking part in “terror” or armed unrest, since the war started, the judiciary’s news agency Mizan reported.
It said 36 “medium-level” dissidents had received long prison sentences.
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Tens of Thousands March in London in Separate Immigration, Pro‑Palestinian Protests
Protesters take part in a “Unite the Kingdom” rally organised by British anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, in London, Britain, May 16, 2026. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday in two separate protests – one against high levels of immigration and another in support of Palestinians.
Police deployed 4,000 officers, including reinforcements from outside the capital, and pledged “the most assertive possible use of our powers” in what they called their biggest public order operation in years.
By 1200 GMT, shortly after both marches started, police said they had made 11 arrests for a range of offenses. They had earlier forecast turnout of at least 80,000.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday accused organizers of the Unite the Kingdom march of “peddling hate and division, plain and simple.”
The march was organized by anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson. The government barred 11 people it described as “foreign far-right agitators” from entering Britain to address the protest.
A previous protest led by Robinson in September drew around 150,000 people, police said, and featured a video address by US tech billionaire Elon Musk. More than 20 people were arrested, and police are still seeking more than 50 suspects.
MARCHERS WAVE BRITISH AND ENGLISH FLAGS
On Saturday, Robinson supporters gathered in central London, waving mainly British and English flags.
“I think that too much migration – not migration, but too much migration – is causing a lot of problems, upsetting a delicate balance here,” said Allison Parr, who also criticized net-zero environmental policies.
Annual net migration approached 900,000 in 2022 and 2023, but fell back to around 200,000 last year after tighter work visa rules.
Concern over immigration – including the arrival of asylum seekers on small boats – has weighed on Starmer’s popularity and boosted the right-wing Reform UK party, whose leader Nigel Farage has distanced himself from Robinson.
Some protesters chanted abuse about Starmer.
Robinson, who has convictions for assault, stalking and other offenses, urged supporters this week to act peacefully in what he billed as “the greatest patriotic display the world has ever seen.”
Earlier this year, he traveled to the US, where he met a State Department official and addressed supporters about what he called “the dangers of Islam” and “the Islamification of Great Britain.”
Census data showed 6.5 percent of people in England and Wales identified as Muslim in 2021, up from 4.9 percent in 2011.
PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS MARK NAKBA DAY
Nearby, pro-Palestinian demonstrators held a march to mark Nakba Day, commemorating Palestinians’ loss of land in the 1948 war that followed the creation of Israel. “Nakba” means catastrophe in Arabic.
The march also drew those opposing the Unite the Kingdom rally, alongside predominantly Palestinian flags.
London has recently seen a spate of arson attacks on Jewish sites, and two Jewish men were stabbed last month in an incident being treated as terrorism.
Police said repeated large pro-Palestinian marches – 33 since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 – had left many Jewish people feeling too intimidated to enter central London.
While protesters held a range of views, police said they routinely made arrests for racially and religiously aggravated public order offenses, inciting racial hatred or supporting proscribed organizations.
The government said police would arrest protesters who chanted “globalize the intifada,” a reference to Palestinian uprisings against Israel that many British Jews view as inciting antisemitism.
Some protesters on Saturday chanted “Death to the IDF”, referring to the Israeli army – language that police said had previously been a reason for arrests when aimed at Jewish people.