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Team Israel’s baseball players were also filmmakers for a new documentary about their 2020 Olympic run
(JTA) — When a group of mostly American Jewish baseball players arrived in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics, they had multiple responsibilities.
First among them was to represent Team Israel in its first-ever Olympic baseball outing. Many of the players were new Israelis, having obtained citizenship just to satisfy Olympics eligibility rules.
But they were also tasked with making a movie about their experience. A documentary had followed Team Israel’s Cinderella run in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, and the filmmakers wanted to make a sequel. But there was a catch: No media was allowed in the Olympic Village in Tokyo, due to strict pandemic restrictions.
Instead, the filmmakers distributed small cameras to the players to document their own experience. The result is the new documentary “Israel Swings for Gold,” which premieres Saturday at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.
“It was sort of amazing, because they got stuff that we never would have gotten, had we had cameras there,” Daniel A. Miller, one of the filmmakers, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “The intimacy that is offered, these moments where they win, and even when they lose, their sort of daily experiences with antisemitism.”
The official movie poster for “Israel Swings for Gold.” (Courtesy Ironbound Films)
Miller is one third of the team behind Ironbound Films, the production company that made “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel.” He said the reception of that movie had surprised him.
“‘Heading Home’ had this huge following that we never expected,” he said. “People loved seeing these players who grew up playing baseball through high school, through college, and they never really explored their faith so much. Their faith was baseball.”
The sequel follows the team from their Olympic qualifier in New York through their citizenship process, visiting Israel and ultimately playing in Tokyo. Ironbound was able to shoot all the footage in Israel and in the United States, but once the team arrived in Tokyo, the players were on their own.
Miller said making the film with the help of the players was “supremely interesting” — and that the resulting perspective widened the series’ lens on what it means to be an Israeli ballplayer.
“It was moving on to what being Israeli meant — associating with Israel and all its problems, and having to identify on a world stage with Israel,” he said.
The film includes moments like the moment of silence held during the opening ceremony to honor the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.
It also shows the Israeli players being turned down by other countries’ athletes for the traditional Olympic pin-swapping — a detail that did not grab headlines at the time, but which corresponds with experiences that Israeli athletes have had on other stages.
Because it is shot largely by the players, the documentary takes on a real behind-the-scenes feel throughout — especially during scenes in the players’ Olympic Village dorms, where they cut each other’s hair, make TikToks and spend most of their time shirtless.
After its Atlanta debut this weekend, Miller said the film will be shown at Jewish film festivals across the country, including in New Hampshire and at the Gold Coast International Film Festival on Long Island. The documentary will also have a theatrical release, beginning in South Florida next month.
Miller said his team plans to make its next sequel at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which takes place in Miami next month.
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Some Tankers Cross Strait of Hormuz Before Shots Fired, Ship-Tracking Data Shows
A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS
More than a dozen tankers, including three sanctioned vessels, passed through the Strait of Hormuz after a 50-day blockade was lifted on Friday, shipping data showed, before Iran reimposed restrictions on Saturday and fired at some vessels.
Reopening the strait is key for Gulf producers to resume full oil and gas supplies to the world, and end what the International Energy Agency has called the worst-ever supply disruption.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday Iran had agreed to open the strait, while Iranian officials said they wanted the US to fully lift its blockade of Iranian tankers.
Western shipping companies cautiously welcomed the announcements but said more clarity was needed, including on the presence of sea mines, before their vessels could transit.
IRAN RESUMES RESTRICTIONS
The ships that passed through the strait on Friday and Saturday via Iranian waters south of Larak island were mainly older, non-Western-owned vessels and included four sanctioned ships, according to ship-tracking data.
Iran arranged passage for a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships following prior agreements in negotiations, a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
Other ships have been seen approaching the strait and turning back as Iran said it would maintain strict controls as long as the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports.
The UK Navy reported on Saturday that Iranian gunboats fired at some ships attempting to cross the strait.
Some merchant vessels received radio messages from Iran’s navy saying the strait was shut again and that no ships were allowed to pass, shipping sources said on Saturday.
Ship-tracking data showed five vessels loaded with liquefied natural gas from Ras Laffan in Qatar approaching the strait on Saturday morning.
No LNG cargoes have transited the waterway since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.
Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the Gulf since the conflict started and Tehran closed the strait, forcing Gulf oil and gas producers to sharply cut production.
Top producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait say they need steady tanker flows and unrestricted passage through the strait to resume normal export operations.
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Trump Greenlights Russian Oil to Ease Strain on Global Markets After War with Iran
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington, DC, US, March 27, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
i24 News – The Trump administration has authorized a 30-day emergency waiver allowing the maritime purchase of Russian oil, reversing a hardline stance in an effort to stabilize skyrocketing global energy prices.
The Treasury Department announced Friday that the license for crude and petroleum products will remain in effect until May 16, 2026, responding to intense pressure from international partners struggling with the fallout of the war with Iran.
This policy pivot comes as a surprise after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested earlier this week that no further exemptions would be granted:
“As negotiations with Iran accelerate, the administration seeks to ensure oil availability for those who need it most. We must prevent a total price collapse for consumers while the geopolitical situation remains volatile.”
Ensuring global oil availability is paramount for the US as over 80 energy facilities in the Middle East have been damaged by recent war with Iran. With the November midterm elections approaching, record-high fuel prices at the pump remain a primary vulnerability for the Republican party. By allowing Russian oil back into the maritime flow, the administration hopes to neutralize “pain at the pump” before voters head to the polls.
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UK: Islamist Group Claims to Attack Israeli Embassy with ‘Drones Carrying Radioactive, Carcinogenic Materials’
A UK man has been arrested for allegedly threatening a group of Jews while wielding an ax on Rosh Hashanah. Photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – British police officers in protective clothing were seen investigating a “security incident” near the Israeli embassy in London on Friday, after a jihadist group put out a video showing it launching two drones allegedly carrying radioactive and carcinogenic materials toward the embassy.
“There is an increased police presence in Kensington Gardens and officers are assessing a number of discarded items. As a precaution, some of the officers who have been deployed are wearing protective clothing. We recognize this may concern local residents and the wider public,” police said in a statement.
“Counter Terrorism Policing London are aware of a video shared online overnight in which a group claims to have targeted the nearby embassy of Israel with drones carrying dangerous substances,” the statement further read. “While we can confirm that the embassy has not been attacked, we are carrying out urgent inquiries to determine the authenticity of the video and to identify any potential link between it and the items discarded in Kensington Gardens.”
The incident comes amid a steep hike in antisemitic attacks in Britain targeting Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions.
The group that released the video was identified as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, a shadowy entity with suspected ties to Iran. It has already claimed seven attacks against Jewish institutions, including an arson attack in London where four ambulances owned by the Hatzolah charity were torched.