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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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China, Saudi Arabia Agree to Strengthen Coordination on Regional, Global Matters
Flags of China and Saudi Arabia are seen in this picture, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 7, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour
China and Saudi Arabia agreed to have closer communication and coordination on regional and international issues, with Beijing lauding Riyadh’s role in Middle East diplomacy, statements following a meeting between the nations’ foreign ministers on Sunday showed.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on a three-nation tour in the Middle East that began in the United Arab Emirates and is expected to end in Jordan. He met with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in Riyadh on Sunday.
A joint statement published by China’s official news agency Xinhua did not elaborate on what issues the countries will strengthen coordination on, but mentioned China’s support for Saudi Arabia and Iran developing and enhancing their relations.
“(China) appreciates Saudi Arabia’s leading role and efforts to achieve regional and international security and stability,” the statement released on Monday said.
The statement also reiterated both countries’ support for a “comprehensive and just settlement” of the Palestinian issue and the formation of an independent state for Palestinians.
At a high-level meeting, Wang told his Saudi counterpart that China has always regarded Saudi Arabia as a “priority for Middle East diplomacy” and an important partner in global diplomacy, a Chinese foreign ministry statement on Monday said.
He also encouraged more cooperation in energy and investments, as well as in the fields of new energy and green transformation.
The countries have agreed to mutually exempt visas for diplomatic and special passport holders from both sides, according to the joint statement.
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Report: Iran Considers Removing Hezbollah Leader Naim Qassem
Lebanon’s Hezbollah Chief Naim Qassem gives a televised speech from an unknown location, July 30, 2025, in this screen grab from video. Photo: Al Manar TV/REUTERS TV/via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran is reportedly dissatisfied with the performance of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem and is preparing to reorganize the group’s leadership, potentially removing him from his position, according to a report by Emirati outlet Erem News citing senior Lebanese diplomatic sources.
The report claims Tehran views Qassem as “unsuitable to lead Hezbollah at this critical stage,” arguing that he has failed to meet the leadership standards set by his predecessor, longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Iranian officials are said to believe Qassem lacks sufficient political acumen and hold him responsible for the deterioration in relations between Hezbollah and the Lebanese state.
According to Erem News, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to oversee preparations for restructuring Hezbollah’s internal leadership during an upcoming visit to Beirut.
The visit is intended to assess the organization’s internal climate through direct meetings with senior Hezbollah figures and influential operatives.
“The Iranian minister seeks to monitor the general climate within Hezbollah and convey an accurate picture of the internal situation to decision-makers in Tehran,” the report said, adding that the findings would be used to inform “crucial decisions regarding anticipated changes at the head of the organization, most notably the fate of Naim Qassem.”
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Iran’s Foreign Minister to Visit Russia and Belarus, Foreign Ministry Says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran‘s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, will visit Russia and Belarus in the next two to three days, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Sunday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan on Friday.