With the reopening of the world of sports and as part of the “Israeli Hope in Sports” project that he is promoting, today (Tuesday) President Reuven Rivlin visited the Wingate Institute. The project in question aims to establish the educational and value-based work and the fight against violence and racism in Israeli sports. The President’s House, under the professional leadership of the “Values in Sports” association and together with other institutional partners, operate with the understanding that sports are a mirror of Israeli society through which tens of thousands of children from all sectors of Israeli society can be influenced.
At the beginning of the visit, the President received an overview of the establishment of sports as an educational-values tool by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Hili Troper, and with the participation of Director General of the Ministry of Culture and Sports Raz Froelich, Sports Director Ofer Bustan, Wingate Institute Chairman Sports Values CEO Eran Eitan and Olympic Committee CEO Gilad Lustig.
The president then met with Israel’s Olympic hopes and watched the Israeli national team train in judo and artistic swimming ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The president met Olympic swimmer Yaakov Tomarkin, as well as Oren Samadja, Sagi Muki, Peter Plachik, Baruch Shmailov, Tohar Botbol and Tal Flicker.
In his remarks, the president referred to Iranian Judai Said Said Moulay, who came to Israel after making headlines due to pressure from the Iranian government not to face his Israeli counterpart, world champion Sagi Muki, and said: “In sports there are rivals but not enemies. In sports we meet the other On the grass, on the parquet or on the mat, and looking at it at eye level – equal. Sport and education for sports, transcend the courts and training halls, and have the power to shape powerful social processes. This is an understanding that you at Wingate, our National Institute of Sports Excellence, share. “In sports, he not only designs better athletes but also better people. This place is a national beacon not only of achievements in sports but also of values in sports.”
Addressing the difficulties of the sport in the current period, the President said: “In the last year, in the shadow of the severe epidemic, the sports and sports education sectors have been significantly affected. “In a community where the sports framework serves as a home and anchor. We must do our best to ensure that the corona damage does not lead to the closure of these homes, and will not cause the next generation of Israeli sports, of Israeli society, to lose this anchor that is so significant to many.”