PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

ISREAL:

The importance of sports in Israel has been increasing both at home as well as the international stage
from the time it has been established as a state and has played a major role in the development of the
country. Israel has been able to produce amazing athletes such as Shahar Pe’er and Yossi Benayoun who
regularly make headlines and have made a name for themselves despite coming from a country with a
small population. The Israeli teams that have made an international impact are the basketball and
soccer teams. The Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club, has established itself as one of the best teams in
Europe over the last few decades.

Israel has a number of sports organizations that run a network of clubs around the country as well as
being affiliated to the major sports teams. Some of the well-known organization include Maccabi
(established 1912) Hapoel (1923) Betar (1924), Elitzur (1939) and the Academic Sports Association
(1953).

SOCCER AND BASKETBALL

Soccer is the most popular sport in Isreal. The professional soccer league, with 12 teams in the
top Premier League division, is followed closely in the media and attracts crowds of up to
20,000 people at games. After half a decade at the top, Maccabi Haifa's era of unrivaled success
appears to be waning, with Betar Jerusalem taking over, having won the league championship
for the first time in nine years in May 2007.Israeli soccer players are having an increasing
impact on the world stage, with 20 Israeli soccer players currently playing in top European
clubs. In the summer of 2007, Israel captain Yossi Benayoun moved to Liverpool FC and
defender Tal Ben Haim to Chelsea, while in January 2008, Tamir Cohen joined Bolton
Wanderers. In November 2017 Israeli soccer star Eran Zahavi was named the Most Valuable
Player in the Chinese Super League, after finishing the season as the league's top goal scorer.
Before being recruited by the Guangzhou R&F club in 2015, Zahavi played for the Maccabi Tel
Aviv team in Israel.
In basketball, Maccabi Tel Aviv are the kings of Israel, having won nearly every league championship in
Israel. Maccabi has also scored several achievements in the Euroleague, winning the finals in 2014 and
back-to-back in 2004 and 2005. Overall, Maccabi owns six Euroleague trophies. In 2009, former Maccabi
player Omri Casspi made history as the first Israeli to play in the NBA, after he was drafted by the
Sacramento Kings.

Hapoel Jerusalem has also had success in the European arena, competing in the ULEB Cup, a
competition it won in 2005. The national basketball team has also established itself as a force to be
reckoned with. In 2009 it again qualified for the Biannual EuroBasket championship, an event it has
participated in since 1993.
Women's basketball is popular in Israel, with two teams - Elitzur Ramle and Anda Ramat
Hasharon - regularly battling for the league title. The two also compete in European competition.
Female player Shay Doron has, in fact, made one of the biggest impacts of all Israelis after she
became the first Israeli to play professional basketball in America in 2007, playing for the New
York Liberty in the WNBA.

The Basketball Without Borders program sponsored a camp in Israel featuring current and
former NBA players and coaches during August 2017. Sixty of the top under-17 basketball
players throughout Europe and the Middle East participated in the program, and trained under
the professional players. Additionally, Basketball Without Borders brought Israeli and
Palestinian children together to play games, and sponsored a new area for children at the
Jerusalem YMCA. Basketball Without Borders has held camps in 26 countries since it's
founding in 2001, and this was the first time that Israel hosted a camp.

Israel participates in the Homeless World Cup, a soccer competition run by the Homeless World
Cup Foundation. The organization hopes to alleviate homelessness worldwide by providing a
social safety net and self-confidence to homeless individuals. Israel is one of 74 countries
including the United States that participate in the Homeless World Cup, which draws an annual
attendance of approximately 80,000 people.

In November 2017, FIFA, the international governing body of professional football, rejected a
Palestinian Football Association request to take punitive action against Israeli soccer teams based
in settlements beyond the Green Line. The Palestinian group argued that the Israeli teams
violated FIFA rules forbidding teams from playing in another nation's territory without
permission. FIFA rejected the Palestinian arguments, based on the fact that there is no
permanent, recognized border in the area,