Hatikva completes victory for Israeli team in Gulf

JORDAN MOSHE

Israel won two gold medals at the international competition, resulting in the Israeli national anthem being heard at a Gulf state sporting contest for the first and second time ever.

Israelis Peter Paltchik and Sagi Muki won gold medals, while Gili Cohen, Baruch Shmailov, and Timna Nelson Levy each took home bronze medals.

Aged 27, Gili is a multiple-competition-winning Israeli judo champion. Winner of the European silver at the U23 event in 2013, she also took bronze at the European Championships in Montpellier in 2014, and has won World Cup medals in more than 10 different cities including the Grand Slam in Baku in 2016.

This week, she competed along with the other Israelis in the first official Israeli team ever to appear at the event. “Gili has been doing judo for years,” Steven says. “But no matter how many times she competes, I feel the same stress come over me every time I watch her.”

“Every time she does well, it’s a true joy,” Steven says. “But knowing how determined she is to succeed makes me stress for her, and I know she actually thinks it’s quite amusing how much I stress. Of course, she doesn’t stress about it the way I do.”

The fact that Israelis were allowed to compete as representatives of their own country made this competition particularly noteworthy. Although participants knew that Hatikva would be played at the award ceremony, the occasion was emotional.

“In previous years, the Israeli competitors had to compete under the flag of the IJF,” says Steven. “The story is that the IJF said to the organisers in Abu Dhabi that the competition would not take place if an Israeli team would not be recognised.”

Indeed, when the organisers stated they would not change their way of doing things as they did not recognise Israel, the federation suspended the Grand Slam from its schedule. However, the tournament was reinstated in September, after United Arab Emirates (UAE) organisers promised equal treatment for Israeli athletes.

“This was a good change,” says Gili. “I’ve competed in Abu Dhabi twice, and this was the first time we could be there as Israelis. We knew how much of an effort the federation had put into making it happen, so we wanted to put on our best performance as a team.”

Gili says the change also brought about an increase in Israeli security, and sense of isolation from the other competitors, but she felt it all vanish when she took to the floor. “Once I went up, it felt as though I was competing in any other competition,” she says. “I’d had my doubts, but they disappeared when I saw that things were normal like any other event.”

The sense of achievement was heightened when Hatikva played during the awards ceremony.

“I could see the emotion of the face of the Minister [of Culture and Sport, Miri Regev] at that moment,” says Gili. “It was very special. It felt real, and it clearly had an effect on many people who were there.”

Regev credited the IJF’s President, Austria’s Marius Vizer, for persuading the organisers to change their policy on Israeli symbols. “I cried as the anthem was played. Marius Vizer stood next to me, and also shed a tear. It was so moving to see that he was touched by our ability to express our emotions,” Regev told Israel Army Radio in an interview.

Steven says that though he doesn’t believe this change indicates a sudden shift in the political reality between Israel and the UAE, it’s a positive step in the right direction. “It was nice to see our own minister standing there, and though I don’t think this will bring us sudden peace, it could lead to positive things.”

In spite of her victory, Gili is already gearing up for her next competition, due to take place next week in Uzbekistan. “The judo calendar never stops,” Steven says. “There are events every week. Gili is gearing up for the 2020 Olympics, and makes the most of every opportunity she has.”