Olympic Committee of Israel

Olympic Committee of Israel
Country/Region	Israel
Code	ISR
Created	1933
Recognized	1952
Continental; Association	EOC
Headquarters	Tel Aviv, Israel
President	Yael Arad
Secretary General	Gilad Lustig
Website	www.olympicsil.co.il

32°6′24.59″N 34°48′55.76″E / 32.1068306°N 34.8154889°E / 32.1068306; 34.8154889

The Olympic Committee of Israel (Hebrew: הוועד האולימפי בישראל) is the recognized National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Israel, and the governing body of Olympic sports in Israel. The OCI's headquarters is located at the National Sport Center – Tel Aviv.

History

In 1933 the Palestine National Olympic Committee was officially formed, and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in May 1934,^[1] but never competed.^[2] Although this committee represented Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Mandatory Palestine, its rules stated that they "represent[ed] the Jewish National Home."^[2] It was, however, controlled exclusively by the Maccabi sports organization and oversaw only clubs affiliated with Maccabi, while neither rival Jewish sports organizations, such as Hapoel, nor non-Jewish sports organizations took part.

Although Palestine was formally invited to participate in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, it declined the invitation to attend the Games in Nazi Germany. In 1948, shortly after the State of Israel was established, its request to participate in the 1948 Olympics was denied, as the newly formed country wasn't yet recognized by IOC.^{[citation needed]}

OCI recognition

The OCI was re-organized in 1951 under joint-leadership of Maccabi and Hapoel, the two major sports organization in the country. According to the agreement of the two organizations, there were two presidents, one from each. This arrangement continued until 1967, and since then OCI has only one president.

OCI achieved IOC recognition in early 1952, just in time for Israel's Olympic debut at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. OCI has sent delegations to all Summer Olympics since then, except for Moscow 1980, which Israel supported the United States in a boycott over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Israel made its debut at the Winter Olympics in 1994, and has become a regular participant since then.

Continental association

Between 1954 and 1974 Israel took part in the Asian Games, but political pressure exerted by Arab countries due to the Arab–Israeli conflict led to Israel's exclusion from the re-organized Olympic Council of Asia in 1981.^[3] In the early 1990s Israel was admitted into European sports organizations, and became full member of European Olympic Committees in 1994. Israel has participated in the biannual European Youth Olympic Festival, since 1995, and the European Games since 2015.

References

^ Galily, Yair; Ben-Porat, Amir (31 October 2013). Sport, Politics and Society in the Land of Israel. Routledge. ISBN 9781317967910.
^ ^a ^b Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (11 August 2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810875227.
^ Israelis Facing Asian Ban

External links

Official website

[1] Galily, Yair; Ben-Porat, Amir (31 October 2013). Sport, Politics and Society in the Land of Israel. Routledge. ISBN 9781317967910.

[PLE-2] Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (11 August 2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810875227.

[3] Israelis Facing Asian Ban

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