Israel Defense Forces Archives

It is both mind-blowing and beautiful to watch Israel return to normal following two straight weeks of anxiety, terror and the unknown.

The kids went back to school on Monday. The adults returned to work. And the pools, gym and tennis courts reopened.

Early next week, summer camps should be in full swing.

Still, the sense of sudden normalcy doesn’t feel normal. It certainly doesn’t for me. I just made aliyah, and as such, experienced war as a new immigrant. I had more at stake this time.

And this war, it was different. I don’t think there has been a conflict in recent memory when friends outside of Israel could follow events so closely in real time. From WhatsApp groups like Jewish Breaking News and Israel Live News, to i24News, coupled with apps of the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command and the incessant Red Alert one, there is an overabundance of reporting from the Jewish state—and the Mideast as a whole—these past 21 months. Because that’s how long it has been. It started with the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by a regional wave of terror and transformation ever since.

In past wars and periods of tension in the Middle East, I was one of those who sat in the United States, glued to the news. Now that I am here for good, I have a new perspective. When friends and colleagues in America reach out and check in, it’s clear that the news sources they follow are not nuanced or always accurate.

When we were greeted on Friday, June 13, at 3 a.m., to a shrill sound on our phones, no one knew at first what was happening. It turns out that the alert was meant to inform Israelis to “sit tight.”

Something, of course, was happening. Israel was bombing Iran, and retaliation was imminent.

As the day unfolded, that “pre-snowstorm in America” feel was in the air. Something was about to happen for sure; it was just a matter of time. The Home Front Command announced no school, no work (except for essential services), no social outings, no simchas. Ben-Gurion International Airport was closed.

A garbage truck is one of the lone vehicles out prior to the start of the 12-day war with Iran, June 13, 2025. Photo by Howard Blas.

By 7:45 a.m., I ventured to the nearest grocery store for essentials for Shabbat. We all knew the azakah, or “warning siren,” could go off any minute. We grabbed the basics—milk, challah rolls, fruit and vegetables, hummus, some snacks—and hustled home, relieved that we could all survive the next few days, if necessary.

Shabbat services were soon canceled countrywide. A popular Tel Aviv Modern Orthodox synagogue sent a message in the WhatsApp group telling people to come by the shul at 4 p.m. to pick up some “take-home cholent, since it is already made.”

Parents of young children who look forward to the weekly camaraderie and kiddush associated with the Children’s Tefillah session arranged to meet at 10:30 a.m. on Shabbat in the local playground, which features a huge bomb shelter seconds away. Bleary-eyed moms and dads, who found themselves in and out of shelters with kids and even with their own parents between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Friday night and into Saturday morning couldn’t stop talking about their experiences.

The lucky ones have a mamad, a safe room in their apartment or apartment building. Most Israelis don’t. Instead, they rely on small, dusty bomb shelters serving an entire apartment building, or they go a few blocks to a local community shelter. Some, like in Tel Aviv, are like modern Jewish Community Centers with multiple safe rooms. These often feature electrical outlets, children’s sleep mattresses and air-conditioning, if you are lucky enough to get a coveted spot. They fill quickly. Hundreds come, along with babies, kids of all ages, even pets. They fill to capacity with the overflow waiting it out in the stairwells.

For parents, work is put on the back burner and is optional for most. Some have spouses—doctors, nurses, other caretakers—who staff Israel’s hospitals, which means that one parent is flying solo with few activities available. Caretakers often can’t make it to work due to erratic public transportation or because they have their own kids or parents to manage. I have learned that in some industries, parents of children up to age 15 or parents of children with disabilities up to age 21 cannot be called in to work; there are similar rules protecting those whose spouses are on IDF reserve duty.

Sunset in Beersheva, the largest city in southern Israel, in between attacks during the 12-day war, June 2025. Photo by Howard Blas.

Waze, unsurprisingly an Israeli innovation, just announced a new feature where the user can easily locate the nearest bomb shelter while out driving or with kids at a playground. It offers some peace of mind to veteran Israelis and new immigrants alike.

On several playgrounds, I saw kids playing a game called azakah and mamad. One child screams out azakah—“bomb alert.” The others scream mamad—“bomb shelter.” They run, pointedly, in search of safety. They must know what psychologists have known for decades: Play is an effective medium for processing trauma. Maybe so, but I’d prefer to see these kids on a swing set.

It is both mind-blowing and beautiful to watch Israel return to normal following two straight weeks of anxiety, terror and the unknown. Yes, we still always remember the hostages in Gaza, the soldiers who have given their lives in battle, and sadly, those who died in the Iranian missile attacks. But by 7 a.m., there were 20 people in front of me at the Maccabi Health Clinic waiting for blood and other lab tests. The local tennis center was open for business. All nine courts were in use by 9 a.m.

Just two days ago, a couple with two young children were considering a temporary move to the States via Jordan so they could do their jobs, so that their children could get a good night’s sleep and maybe even attend a local summer camp.

Now, that’s off the table. Ben-Gurion International Airport is open. Some foreigners are trying to get out, and Israelis are trying to get in. Summer programs that were recently canceled will be jump-started next week, including the Birthright Israel program. It’s too late to bring the Maccabiah Games back, but athletes are sure to be here in even greater numbers next summer.

It may just be a wonderful summer, after all. Israelis are hopeful, but realistic. Everything can change in just about the time it takes to get to the nearest bomb shelter.

The original article is published at JPost.com

MLB’s lone Sabra stands strong with Israel from near and far as Reds’ assistant pitching coach.

In most ways, Cincinnati Reds assistant pitching coach Alon Leichman looks like all other players and coaches on the National League Central team. During games, all are clad in white pants and shirts with the word “Reds” inscribed inside of a large letter “C,” and all wear red baseball caps with the same letter “C.” And all are focused on the game.

As Leichman sits on the bench in the dugout taking copious notes on his pitchers’ form and delivery, it is not obvious that the 34-year-old is the only native-born Israeli in the major leagues (though there are other Israeli citizens throughout MLB who are not native born, including Baltimore Orioles pitcher and fellow Team Israel player Dean Kremer).

Leichman’s mind is on the game, and it is also on the situation back home in Israel. The generally quiet and humble Leichman has not been afraid to stand up for his country during these difficult times. Pictures abound of Leichman wearing a “Bring Them Home” T-shirt pitching batting practice, while sporting a black glove with an Israeli flag and the words “Bring Them Home” stitched in white capital letters and the word “NOW!” in even bigger red letters.

Leichman grew up playing baseball, a somewhat surprising fact for a Sabra. He was reared in Kibbutz Gezer, near Latrun on the road from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. While his New York-born father and Michigan-born mother, who met in Israel after making aliyah in their 20s, were not particularly big baseball fans, the kibbutz had an affinity to American baseball.

“The kibbutz was founded by Americans and wanted to bring American culture to Israel, so all kids on the kibbutz play baseball. I happened to really like it,” exclaimed Leichman, who started playing shortstop and pitcher on his first team at age six.

Leichman’s custom designed glove. (credit: Alon Leichman/Courtesy)

Peter Kurz, former President of the Board of Directors of the Israel Association of Baseball and current General Manager of Team Israel, has known Leichman for over 20 years.

“I took Alon on his first Israel National Team trip – and my first as well – to Holland as a 10-year-old kid in 1999 – the youngest on a team of 12 year olds.”

Leichman graduated from the Brenner Regional School in 2007 and went on to serve in the Israel Defense Forces as an “outstanding athlete.”

He went on to attend junior college at Cypress College in Cypress, California, and pitched on their baseball team from 2010-2013.

“My parents supported my going to college in America to play baseball – they knew it’s what I always wanted to do.”

While at Cypress, Leichman required Tommy John surgery for a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He then attended University of California-San Diego, where he pitched and graduated with a history degree. Leichman always knew he would continue either to play baseball, coach or serve as a scout.

The likable Israeli maintained what he describes as a “good connection” to his junior college coach, Scott Pickler, who always told him, “You will be a good coach someday.”

Leichman then had an opportunity to coach in the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he helped the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox win the 2016 Championship.

“I had been helping out as pitching coach and the pitcher did pretty well. It gave me the stage to work. People know each other in baseball and it kept leading to other opportunities.”

In 2017, Leichman began a six-year career in a variety of roles with the Seattle Mariners organization. In 2022, he served as pitching coach of the AAA Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League.

Leichman continually stresses how gradual the progression is from playing in college to coaching at the various levels in professional baseball. In December, 2022, Leichman was named assistant pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds.

“It has been a good dream come true to coach here,” Leichman said of Cincinnati. “Every step of the way prepares you for the next step.”In his current role, he charts each game from the dugout.

“I make sure guys are on track and help them make adjustments if needed. If I see they are off, I talk to them.”

Kurz is proud of Leichman

“No one was more thrilled than I was to see his meteoric rise as a coach in minor league and MLB baseball, and he will be an MLB manager one day soon. His determination, grit, rise to excellence, ability to reach out to everyone at any level, and perseverance always made him stand out.”

Throughout Leichman’s impressive baseball career in America, he has always maintained strong ties with Team Israel and to his native Israel. In his post-college years, he proudly coached junior 12 to 18 year olds in Israel.

“I always liked coaching and knew I would do it after I was done playing.”

Kurz has been with him through almost two decades and countless milestones.

“I have been involved with Alon on countless National Teams, the IBL, the WBC and the Olympic team.”

Leichman competed for Israel during the qualifying round of the 2010, 2012 and 2016 European Baseball Championship.

Leichman was on the roster for Israel during 2013 World Baseball Classic, though he did not make any appearances. He later served as the bullpen coach for Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier and at the World Baseball Classic.

Leichman competed on the Israel National Team for qualifying for the 2020 Olympics. He pitched one perfect inning for Team Israel against Team USA in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2021.

“Pitching in the Olympics was the highlight of my baseball career,” reported Leichman beaming with pride.

When Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Leichman was in the United States. He was touched and appreciative when the Reds came out with a public statement a day later, on October 8, which said that they “mourn the loss of life and suffering of innocent people caused by the terrorism perpetrated against Israel. We condemn these senseless acts of hate and stand in solidarity with the people of Israel as we pray for peace and an end to terrorism.”

Leichman didn’t take that public show of support for granted.

“It was a big deal… Both the manager and GM reached out and offered support if I needed anything.”

In addition, Leichman said that his former team, the Mariners, reached out, as have several past and current Jewish major leaguers.

Leichman returned to Israel on October 18 and remained there with family until returning to the US and the Reds on February 1 for the new season. Kurz shared how Leichman spent his time in Israel.

“Even over the last few winter months when he was in Israel during the war, and we volunteered together to help Israeli agriculture and picked oranges and avocados together with Assaf Lowengart and the Olympic IOC, Alon was always one of the guys, and spent time with our budding athletes, teaching them and showing them the finer points of the game that he learned. And with all that, he has always been humble, appreciative, and understood where he came from and has always given back.”

Leichman returned to the Reds for spring training and for the start of the MLB season. He chanced upon a picture of a glove posted on social media by a female friend who played softball for Team Israel.

When he saw Maddy Lewis’s two-toned blue glove, designed by JH Performance with the words “chazakim b’yachad” (“we are strong together”) Leichman thought, “Maybe I should get a glove too.”

With Israel still at war and the hostages still in captivity, Leichman decided to design his own red and black glove which he notes are “the colors of Bring Them Home.”

Kurz was touched

“When he publicized the mitt he had made, and whenever he uploads a picture of himself at Reds camp with the “Bring them Home” T-shirt, I get goosebumps and the value of that simple PR act is incredible.

“Alon is indeed the first Sabra to reach this coaching level in MLB and he will achieve greater things as well, but he will always remember his roots and support them. I am very proud to have mentored and taught him over the years.”

Leichman prays for the day he will no longer need to wear the “Bring Them Home” shirt or glove.

“I hope things get better back at home. I hope it won’t be a thing anymore.”