Sport in Israel

Sports in Israel are pursued competitively and for leisure. Israelis engage in a wide range of athletic activities, with soccer and basketball constituting national favorites. Israel has won seven medals in the Olympic Games, in judo, canoeing and windsurfing, and an Israeli grandmaster is the holder of the 2009 Chess World Cup.

Football (soccer)

Main article: Football in Israel

The most popular sport in Israel is soccer (kadur regel, lit. football). Teams include both Jewish and Arab players. The sport is under the jurisdiction of the Israel Football Association. The games that draw the largest crowds are those of the Israeli Premier League - Ligat ha'Al.

Basketball

Main articles: Israel Basketball Association and Ligat HaAl (basketball)

Maccabi Tel Aviv dominates the domestic league and is among the top teams in Europe. Maccabi Tel Aviv has won the European championship 5 times, in 1977, 1981, 2001, 2004 and 2005. Another Israeli team, Hapoel 'Migdal' Jerusalem won the ULEB Eurocup in 2004.

Israel national basketball team

The Israel national basketball team has participated 23 times in the European Championship. Their best achievements were a silver medal in Eurobasket 1979, and 5th place in 1953 and 1977. The national team also played in two World Championships And once in the Summer Olympic Games.

Israel basketball is known for its Israel national U20 basketball team, winning silver medals twice, in 2000 and 2004, and finishing 4th twice (1994,2005), 5th (1992), and 6th (2007). Israel U-20 also took place in the U-21 World Championship, finishing twice in 7th place (2001,2005), and 6th place (1993).

Tennis

Highly ranked players include Amos Mansdorf, Anna Smashnova, Shahar Pe'er (ranked #15 by the WTA in 2007) and the doubles team of Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich (world #7 team in 2006 and 2008 Australian Open champions) - all of whom have trained at the Israel Tennis Centers. Since 2008, both men's and the women's teams have qualified for the top groups in the world - the men are in the Davis Cup world group, and the women are in the Fed Cup world group I.

Rugby

Lithuania national rugby union team playing Israel

Rugby union is a minor sport brought to the country by British soldiers during the Mandate era. The first game post-independence was in 1951, organized by Leo Camron. A wave of immigration from English speaking countries, and France, since 1967 renewed interest in the sport, particularly in areas with large English-speaking populations such as Ra'anana and Jerusalem. A national league was set up in 1972, and the Israel Rugby Union formed in 1975. Israel's first international match was away to Switzerland on 25 May 1981, and ended 9-9. The Israel Union joined the International Rugby Board in 1988. Rugby union has also featured at the Maccabiah Games since 1981. Israel has entered the Rugby World Cup Sevens.

American football

The center of American football in Israel is the Kraft Family Stadium in Jerusalem. Currently there are 5 leagues playing American contact football, in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem (2 teams) and Modi'in. The game is mainly played by ex-pats from America, South Africa, England and France. The largest league in 2007 was men's contact, with 57 teams competing in the annual Holyland Bowl championship. The women's league is the WAFI which has 13 teams. The Yosef Goodman High School League has 12 teams, and the Tuesday Night co-ed league has 5 teams. Some 1000 players are involved in weekly football activities.

Netball

Netball was introduced in Israel in 1999. Today there are teams in Raanana, Modi'in, Jerusalem, Efrat. Israel has sent senior and junior representatives to international events, culminating in its first international win in Ireland in June 2008. Israel is an associate member of the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) and an associate member of the Federation of European Netball Associations (FENA).

Ice hockey

See also: Israel Ice Hockey Federation

Ice hockey started in Israel in 1986 when the first rink opened in Kiryat Motzkin. Israel has a following of over 1,000 ice hockey players. Israel took part in the 2007 Ice Hockey Division II World Championships.

Handball

Israel's national handball team participated in the 2002 European Men's Handball Championship in Sweden. Local power Hapoel Rishon Lezion qualified for the quarterfinals of the EHF Champions League in 2000.

Baseball

There are around a thousand baseball players in Israel. The Israel Baseball League, managed by Larry Baras, was established in 2007. It is the first professional baseball league in the Middle East. Currently there are 6 teams that play in 3 stadiums. The first and current champions are the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox managed by Ron Blomberg.

Track and field

Track and field athletics in Israel are mainly focused around the Maccabiah Games and the international Olympic Games, where Israel has achieved notable successes during its short history. The Soviet-born Aleksandr Averbukh is by far the most successful Israeli track and field athlete, having won three gold medals in the pole vault at European championships (2000 — indoor, 2002 and 2006) as well as two medals at the World championships (1999 and 2001).

Chess

While chess, as an intellectual sport, has always been played in Israel, the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s brought many chess grandmasters to Israel and increased interest in the game.

International competitions

Maccabiah Games

The Maccabiah Games are an international Jewish athletic event, similar to the Olympics, held every four years in Israel. The first games were held in 1932.

Olympic Games

Main article: Israel at the Olympics

Israel has won seven Olympic medals. Gal Fridman won Israel's first Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Medal	Name	Games	Sport	Event
Silver	Yael Arad	1992 Barcelona	Judo	Women's half middleweight
Bronze	Oren Smadja	1992 Barcelona	Judo	Men's lightweight
Bronze	Gal Fridman	1996 Atlanta	Sailing	Men's sailboard
Bronze	Michael Kolganov	2000 Sydney	Canoeing	Men's K-1 500 metres
Gold	Gal Fridman	2004 Athens	Sailing	Men's sailboard
Bronze	Ariel Zeevi	2004 Athens	Judo	Men's half heavyweight
Bronze	Shahar Zubari	2008 Beijing	Sailing	Men's sailboard

Arab-Israeli conflict

Due to the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli sportsmen and teams are barred from some competitions. In many worldwide competitions, such as the Olympics, Arabs and Asians competitors avoid competing against Israelis. Some countries even force its sportsmen not to compete against Israelis or in Israel. Mushir Salem Jawher, a Kenyan born marathoner, lost his Bahraini citizenship after competing in the Kinneret Marathon in Israel.

In an Arab terrorist attack at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, eleven members of the Israeli team were murdered.

Despite the country's political problems, a growing number of Arab sportsmen are joining Israeli sports teams and contributing to Israel's success in the international arena. They include Rifat (Jimmy) Turk, Najwan Ghrayib, Walid Badir and Salim Toama. Abbas Suan, one of Israel's top soccer players, is an Israeli Arab. Another Israeli Arab, Johar Abu Lashin, born in Nazareth, was an IBO Welterweight champion.

Sports media

Sports have been a major part of Israeli broadcasting since the early days of organized sports in the country. The media's influence on Israeli sports has increased considerably in recent years, which is most evident in football (soccer) and basketball, where team budgets rely largely on payments from television networks who bought the rights to broadcast sporting events.

Television, radio, newspapers and news web sites are the major channels where Israeli sport is analyzed, broadcast and discussed. Generally, football (soccer) attracts the major attention of Israeli media, which is evident through all of the above channels.

External links

• TourTheIsrael - Israel bike racing organization
• The Israel Football Association
• Israel Basketball Association Template:He icon
• Sports Associations in Israel - List containing links and phone numbers
• Sports in Israel - Photos by Lev Borodulin
• IL-Sports - Israeli sports website in English
• Sports in Israel - photos by Lev Borodulin