Sport in Israel


Sport in Israel plays an important role in Israeli culture and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The most popular sports in Israel have traditionally been Association football and basketball – with the first being considered the national sport – in both of which Israeli professional teams have been competitive internationally. Israel is an international center for Jewish sport around the world and since 1932 the Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes, is held in the country. Despite Israel's location in the Asian continent, the Israeli sports associations in various sports belong to the European associations due to the refusal of many Arab Asian countries to compete with Israeli athletes.
The government's support and budgeting of sports in Israel is relatively low in comparison to other western countries. However, many Israeli athletes and teams managed to gain international success. The Israel national basketball team has won 2 gold medals in the Asian Games and 1 silver medal at the European Championship, and basketball club Maccabi Tel Aviv is considered one of the best teams in Europe with 6 European titles. The Israel national football team has won the AFC Asian Cup and the Israel Davis Cup team reached the semifinal of the 2009 Davis Cup. At the Olympic Games, Israel has won 20 medals.

History

Jewish physical fitness was promoted in the 19th century by Max Nordau and his concept of Muscular Judaism. The Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes inaugurated in 1932 is held every fours years.
In 1964, Israel hosted and won the AFC Asian Cup. In 1970, the Israel national football team qualified for the FIFA World Cup, which was considered a major achievement for Israeli football. Israel was excluded from the 1978 Asian Games due to Arab pressure.

Major sports

Football

is the most popular sport in Israel. The sport is governed by Israel Football Association. It joined the Asian Football Confederation in 1954, but was expelled in 1974 due to political pressure from Arab and Muslim members in the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict. It was admitted to UEFA as an associate member in 1992 and as a full member in 1994, therefore their teams compete as part of Europe in all international competitions.
The matches that draw the largest crowds are those of the Israeli Premier League. In 1967, Hapoel Tel Aviv became the first club to win the Asian Club Championships. In the 2001–02 UEFA Cup Hapoel reached the quarter-finals after knocking out Chelsea, Lokomotiv Moscow and Parma.
Israeli teams were also qualified five times to the UEFA Champions League group stage, including Maccabi Haifa in the 2002–03 and 2009–10 seasons, Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 2004–05 and 2015–16 seasons and Hapoel Tel Aviv in the 2010–11 season.
The Israel national football team hosted and won the 1964 AFC Asian Cup and qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Mexico. Mordechai Spiegler scored in a 1–1 draw against Sweden. Israel's Olympic football team qualified for the 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics both times reaching the quarter-finals. Israel's highest FIFA ranking was 15th in November 2008.
Famous matches of the Israeli football team include the 3–2 win in France in the 1994 world championship qualifying games, which ended up disqualifying the French team from the championship in the United States, the defeat of Austria 5–0 in 1999 during Euro 2000 qualifications, and a 2–1 win over Argentina in a friendly match in 1998, a game played in Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.
Successful Israeli players who also played outside Israel include Eli Ohana, Giora Spiegel, Ronny Rosenthal, Avi Cohen, Eyal Berkovich, Haim Revivo, Dudu Aouate and Yossi Benayoun.
Notable Israeli players have included:
  • Dudu Aouate, Israel, goalkeeper
  • Tal Ben Haim, Israel, center back/right back
  • Yossi Benayoun, Israel, attacking midfielder
  • Eyal Berkovic, Israel, midfielder
  • Avi Cohen, Israel, defender
  • Yaniv Katan, Israel, forward/winger
  • Eli Ohana, Israel, won UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and Bravo Award ; national team; manager
  • Haim Revivo, Israel, attacking/side midfielder
  • Ronnie Rosenthal, Israel, left winger/striker
  • Giora Spiegel, Israel, midfielder
  • Mordechai Spiegler, Soviet Union/Israel, striker, manager
  • Yochanan Vollach, Israel, defender

    Basketball

Basketball is the second most popular sport in Israel. Hapoel Jerusalem, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv dominate the domestic league and are among the top teams in Europe. Maccabi Tel Aviv has won the European championship 6 times, in 1977, 1981, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2014. Hapoel Jerusalem won the Eurocup in 2004. Hapoel Tel Aviv won the Eurocup in 2025.
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.
Israeli basketball is known for its national under-20 team, winning back to back gold medals in 2018 & 2019, three silver medals in 2000, 2004, 2017, and finishing 4th three times, 5th, and 6th.
Israel U-20 also took place in the U-21 World Championship, finishing twice in 7th place, and 6th place.
The renowned "Israeli coaching school" produced many of the most successful European basketball coaches, such as Ralph Klein, Pini Gershon, David Blatt, and Zvi Sherf.
Deni Avdija is an active player in the NBA, Omri Casspi previously played in the NBA. Gal Mekel, previously played in the NBA and Shay Doron previously played in the WNBA. David Blatt coached the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers. Other notable Israeli basketball players have included:
Baseball was first introduced into the region on July 4, 1927, when baseball equipment was distributed at the Sephardic Orphanage in Jerusalem.
The Israel Baseball League, managed by Larry Baras, was established in 2007. It was the first professional baseball league in the Middle East. In its first and only season it had six teams that played in three stadiums. The first and only champions were the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox managed by Ron Blomberg.
The Israel national baseball team applied, unsuccessfully, to participate in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. They were subsequently invited to participate in the newly created qualifying round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic. During the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier Israel qualified for the main tournament and finished in sixth place.
Team Israel won the 2019 European Baseball Championship – B-Pool in early July 2019 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, winning all five of its games. It thus advanced to the playoffs against Team Lithuania in the 2019 Playoff Series at the end of July 2019 for the last qualifying spot for the 2019 European Baseball Championship. Israel won the best-of-three playoff series 2–0, and thereby qualified for the 2019 European Baseball Championship.
In Round 1 of the 2019 European Baseball Championship, Israel went 4–1. The team thereby advanced to the Championship's eight-team playoffs. In the Championship playoffs, Israel defeated Team France in the quarterfinals, lost to Team Italy in the semi-finals, and came in fourth.
Because Team Israel finished in the top five in the 2019 European Baseball Championship, it earned the right to participate in the 2020 Olympics qualifiers Africa/Europe Qualifying Event. As the winner of that tournament it qualified to be one of the six national teams that competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Every member of the 24-member Team Israel that competed to qualify in the Olympics was Israeli, with four of the players native-born. The others made aliyah to Israel, under Israel's Law of Return, which gives anyone with a Jewish parent or grandparent or who is married to a Jew the right to return to Israel and be granted Israeli citizenship.

Chess

is a leading sport in Israel. There are many Israeli grandmasters and Israeli chess players have won a number of youth world championships. Israel stages an annual international championship and hosted the World Team Chess Championship in 2005. The Ministry of Education and the World Chess Federation agreed upon a project of teaching chess within Israeli schools, and it has been introduced into the curriculum of some schools. The city of Beersheba has become a national chess center, with the game being taught in its kindergartens. Owing partly to Soviet immigration, it is home to the largest number of chess grandmasters of any city in the world. The Israeli chess team won the silver medal at the 2008 Chess Olympiad and the bronze, coming in third among 148 teams, at the 2010 Olympiad. Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand won the Chess World Cup 2009.
While chess, as an intellectual sport, has always been played in Israel, the arrival of large numbers of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s brought many chess grandmasters to Israel and increased interest in the game.

Swimming

is the major swimming federation in Israel. Swimming is popular in Israel's many beaches along the Mediterranean coast, the Sea of Galilee, in the Red Sea at the shores of Eilat, in the Dead Sea and in swimming pools. Famous Israeli swimmers include Eithan Urbach, Michael Halika, Gal Nevo, Yoav Gath, Yoav Bruck, Vered Borochovski, Amit Ivry, and Anna Gostomelsky. At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Israel's team qualified to the final of the prestigious Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay. Uri Bergman won 12 gold medals at the Paralympic Games, and other paralympic swimmers such as Izhak Mamistvalov and Keren Leibovitch won several gold medals as well.
The country's first swimming pool was built in 1933 as part of the Jerusalem YMCA. The first regulation-size swimming pool was built in 1935, just before the second Maccabiah, in Bat Galim.