After a bumpy first season marked by allegations of financial mismanagement, Israel’s fledgling baseball league suffered a new setback last week with the sudden departure of its commissioner and a dozen volunteer advisers.

Daniel Kurtzer, a former American ambassador to both Egypt and Israel who served as the first commissioner of the Israel Baseball League, announced his resignation November 15. He was joined by a majority of the IBL’s advisory board members, who, in a statement released to the press, alleged that the league’s managers had been "unwilling to provide relevant financial information."

The departures come as the league’s founder and sole owner, Boston-based businessman Larry Baras, finds himself under considerable scrutiny. In recent months, reports have surfaced that the IBL owes money to players and to vendors and may not return for a second season. Meanwhile, one of Baras’s former friends and business associates, Natalie Blacher of Dade County, Fla., filed a lawsuit in late September accusing Baras of misappropriating $275,000 she had invested in his company, SJR Foods.

Marty Appel, who was among the board members who resigned, said the decision had come after "continuing attempts to get a better grip of the situation" over the past six or seven weeks...