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The Jewish Sport Report: Israel enters the lacrosse world championship ranked 7th in the world
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Good afternoon, and happy early Father’s Day to all the dads and grandfathers out there.
One summer in high school, my father and I went on a baseball road trip, visiting a number of ballparks across the eastern United States, from New York to Chicago. It remains a life highlight of mine.
Do you have a favorite sports memory you’ve shared with your father? I’d love to hear your stories! Email us at sports@jta.org to share your experience.
Israel enters men’s lacrosse world championship ranked 7th in the world
Lacrosse is catching on in Israel, where 300-400 children and teens are now playing the sport. (Courtesy of the Israel Lacrosse Association)
Lacrosse is nowhere near the echelon of popularity that soccer and basketball occupy in Israel. But in the short time since the Israel Lacrosse Association launched in 2010, the sport has spread across the country, becoming increasingly popular among native Israelis.
This coming week in San Diego, Israel’s men’s national team will be competing in the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship — and they are ranked seventh in the world.
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 me.
Read more about the growth of Israeli lacrosse right here.
Halftime report
MAY HIS MEMORY BE A BLESSING. Ben Helfgott, one of two known Holocaust survivors to go on to compete in the Olympics, died today at 93. He survived multiple concentration camps on his way to becoming Britain’s lightweight champion and a two-time Olympian.
SOARING HIGH. Basketball legend Sue Bird had her jersey number 10 retired by the Seattle Storm on Sunday, in recognition of the Jewish icon for her remarkable career on the court and her indelible impact off of it.
STILL GOING STRONG. The German soccer team Makkabi Berlin, which was originally founded in 1898 as a sports club for young Jews, recently won the Berlin Cup (for the Berlin-Liga, the sixth tier of German soccer). Haaretz takes a look at the team’s history, and the recent antisemitism it has endured.
TAKING THE REINS. Jewish Insider profiles new Phoenix Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein, who recently ascended to the team’s top job, becoming one of the NBA’s youngest executives.
GRAND SLAM. Shoe designer and Maccabiah gold medalist Stuart Weitzman has made a “transformative gift” to support tennis in Israel. His gift to the Israel Tennis & Education Centers will enable the creation of the Stuart Weitzman Tennis Complex in Jerusalem.
ICYMI. Last weekend, Israel beat South Korea 3-1 in the third place game to claim the bronze medal in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, an impressive finish for Israel’s first-ever tournament appearance.
Mash that merch
Matt Mervis, left, is selling Hebrew merchandise to support baseball in Israel. (Israel Association of Baseball/Getty Images)
Baseball is also not a top sport in Israel. But Chicago Cubs rookie and Team Israel alum Matt Mervis (who was sent back down to Triple-A Thursday night) has unveiled a new line of merchandise in partnership with the Israel Association of Baseball to raise money to support the sport’s growth there.
His new hats and t-shirts feature his nickname spelled in Hebrew.
“It’s a great cause to help grow the game in Israel,” Mervis told MLB.com, “and try to build some fields over there.”
More on Mervis’ new merch here.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN GOLF…
Max Homa is in his native Los Angeles this weekend for the U.S. Open, the first major tournament since the PGA-LIV merger. He’s looking to cement his spot as one of golf’s brightest stars.
IN BASEBALL…
Dean Kremer takes the mound for the Baltimore Orioles against the Chicago Cubs at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. Over in Boston, Harrison Bader is set to return from the injured list tonight as his New York Yankees take on the Boston Red Sox. Sox reliever Richard Bleier is on the injured list, and Ryan Sherriff is currently in the minors. Kevin Pillar and the Atlanta Braves take on Jake Bird and the Colorado Rockies in a four-game set.
IN RACING…
Lance Stroll races in his home Canadian Grand Prix Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. Stroll had another strong showing earlier this month in the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing in sixth.
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: Israel enters the lacrosse world championship ranked 7th in the world appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel’s Netanyahu Says Syria Deal Possible, Expects Buffer Zone
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday a deal with Syria is possible and he expects Syrian authorities to establish a demilitarized buffer zone from Damascus to Mount Hermon and other areas.
Netanyahu spoke a day after US President Donald Trump, whose administration has been trying to broker a non-aggression pact between the two countries, said it was very important that Israel maintained a “strong and true dialogue” with Damascus.
Syria does not formally recognize Israel, which following the fall of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December moved troops into a buffer zone along the Syrian border to secure a military position to prevent terrorists from launching attacks against the Jewish state.
The previously demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria and later annexed by Israel, was established under the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem that ended the Yom Kippur War. However, Israel considered the agreement void after the collapse of Assad’s regime.
“What we expect Syria to do is, of course, to establish a demilitarized buffer zone from Damascus to the buffer area, including the approaches to Mount Hermon and the Hermon peak,” Netanyahu said while visiting wounded soldiers in central Israel. “We hold these areas in order to ensure the security of Israel’s citizens, and that is what obligates us.”
He added: “With goodwill and an understanding of these principles, it is possible to reach an agreement with the Syrians, but we will stand by our principles in any case.”
Trump has backed Syria‘s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, while Israel has voiced wariness over Sharaa’s past links to Islamist militancy, but has engaged in efforts to broker a deal.
An Israeli raid in southern Syria on Friday killed 13 Syrians, Syrian state media reported. The Israeli military said it had targeted a Lebanese Islamist militant group there. Netanyahu on Tuesday was visiting soldiers wounded in the clash.
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French Authorities Detain Two Minors Suspected of Plotting Terror Attacks on ‘Israeli Targets’
Illustrative: Police officers work after police shot dead an armed man earlier who set fire to the city’s synagogue in Rouen, France, May 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
French authorities have launched an investigation into a group suspected of planning attacks and two minors have been charged and placed in pre-trial detention as a result of it, France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said on Monday.
In a statement issued after a report in French media, the office also said that since the start of 2025, a total of 20 minors have faced terrorism-related charges.
Media outlet Franceinfo reported that the two minors had been planning an attack on “Israeli targets,” citing a source close to the investigation. The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office did not immediately confirm this in its statement.
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Joel F. Brown named next Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Forward Association
Joel F. Brown has been named the next Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Forward Association, the nonprofit entity that publishes the Forward, America’s most influential and widely read nationwide Jewish publication. He has served as a member of the Forward board and of the Forward Association for 10 years.
Brown most recently served with the Chicago-based law firm Goldberg Kohn as a principal in its Commercial Finance Group. He has written and lectured on a wide variety of finance-related legal topics and was named one of the 2021 Best Lawyers in America honorees in Banking and Finance law. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and of New York University School of Law.
Since retiring from the practice of law in 2024, Brown has been pursuing a Masters Degree in Jewish Studies from the Spertus Institute. Brown also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, has served as President of Am Yisrael Conservative Congregation (Northfield, Illinois) and is affiliated with the Shalom Hartman Institute.
Brown said, “I am honored to assume this important role in supporting the Forward’s ongoing storied history of reporting on the Jewish American experience in all its diversity. Over the next few years, I expect the Board will help guide the Forward in its mission to cover the full spectrum of Jewish American politics, culture and religion, with an emphasis on reaching new audiences, and in particular younger audiences.”
About the Forward
The Forward is America’s leading voice in Jewish journalism, delivering incisive coverage of the issues, ideas and institutions that matter to American Jews.
The Forward‘s independent, non-ideological perspective on world and national news, and its unparalleled coverage of Jewish arts, culture and opinion, have made it the most influential and widely read nationwide Jewish publication today, and it has been honored with the most journalism awards of any Jewish media organization.
The Forward reaches more than 100 million viewers annually across its website, social media, email newsletters, events and podcasts. The Forward‘s free e-newsletters include the Forwarding the News morning briefing and others highlighting areas of special interest like Yiddish and antisemitism.
Leading outlets turn to the Forward‘s journalists for analysis and interviews, including The New York Times, CNN, Fox, NPR, Politico, Haaretz and The Washington Post. The Forward has been archived by the U.S. Library of Congress and named one of the top nonprofit news sites by Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab.
The post Joel F. Brown named next Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Forward Association appeared first on The Forward.