Harel Insurance and Finance Group and the Israeli Basketball Association held a press conference for the Israeli National Teams on Monday morning, at which the National Team’s new jersey – which now displays the logo of Israel’s largest insurance and financial group – was unveiled.

Men’s National Team coach Ariel Beit Halachmi, captain Tomer Ginat and Bar Timor (who will be acting captain during the team’s February window), as well as women’s National Team coach Sharon Drucker and captain Eden Rotberg, represented their teams at the presser. Additionally, Amos Frishman, Chairman of the Israel Basketball Association and Ben Hamburger, Vice Chairman of Harel Insurance Group, were present.

The presser was a celebration of the new partnership between Harel and the Association.

“Since the 7th of October, Harel and a large portion of our 5,000 employees have been a part of lots of projects which contribute to the community,” Hamburger started. “During 2025, in addition to these projects, we also want to contribute to a realm that will return the pride to our country and something that will make us happy. This sponsorship is a great opportunity for us connect with the National Team. The National Team is not only the pride of the Israeli public, but we also share a number of traits, including professionalism and positivity. In addition to our logo and the financial contribution, our heart is with you. We are proud of you and we look forward to success – I hope that you see that Harel is with you.”

“I’m very excited to have help from a group such as Harel, it is not taken for granted,” Frishman said. “We are embarking on a new journey. I’m excited, I think that together we can achieve great things with a group as large as Harel. This summer is going to be one of our greatest challenges. We have two youth teams participating for the first time at the highest level. It’s not simple to stay at the top level, but we have exceptional people who can do this Together with Harel, I hope that this partnership will be for many years and that we will achieve a lot together.”

The coaches and players also expressed their appreciation to Harel for their sponsorship.

“It’s a great honor to be here and see Harel and all the people working for us,” Drucker said. “I think that especially in this period since October 7, the Israeli team has a different standing, we know what’s happening around the world. The more that we represent ourselves as much as possible, the better – and now we have Harel giving us a lot of support, honor and pride. We represent ourselves proudly with the flag and now with Harel’s logo as well, we’re excited and happy that Harel is with us.”

“I think that a group as large as Harel which is now entering into the area of sport it’s a great honor,” Beit Halahmi concurred.

While the men’s National Team qualified for the 2025 EuroBasket after wins against Ukraine in November, the final group qualification games will take place on Friday and Monday, when Israel will host Portugal and Slovenia at their temporary home court in Riga.

“For the upcoming window, sadly I cannot participate because of injury, but the rest of the team will represent us proudly,” Ginat said. “Bar will lead the team well, I have no doubt, we have done this together for a long time. We have a lot of players and no doubt we will come away with wins and be as prepared as possible for the summer.”

“I won’t say sadly, because it’s always great to captain the National Team, but it’s sad that it’s because Tomer is injured,” Timor said. “We already qualified for the EuroBasket in the last window, but we will play well in this window and win.”

“We did the work in the last window in a good way,” Beit-Halachmi said. “This is the time for us to try new things, see the new players and keep the level of commitment. We want to represent the country with the integrity.”

While the men’s team is gearing up for a big summer at the EuroBasket, earlier this month the women’s National Team guaranteed that they will be watching this year’s women’s EuroBasket tournament from home, after losing to Latvia 80-83 and France 39-100, ending their quest to qualify.

“I’m very disappointed and the whole team is disappointed after the last window of games,” Rotberg said. “We could have made it, however we lost to Latvia. Sadly, in the end that was the result and that happens in sport. I hope that we will make it there in the future. Thank you to Sharon and the whole team, especially for our participation in the last EuroBasket [in 2023, in which group stage games were held in Israel].”

The upcoming window for the men’s team is being talked about for the wrong reasons this week, with a number of players unable to play due to injuries and personal reasons. In addition to Ginat, Tamir Blatt, Khadeen Carrington and Yovel Zoosman will not play in Riga after being invited to the team. It’s not uncommon for players to withdraw due to injuries or for personal reasons, however sometimes rumors circulate that certain players simply do not want to play – and the Association’s Chairman was blunt with his message to those players.

“I expect every player who is invited to the National Team to come,” Frishman said. “If Tamir Blatt isn’t here, ask him why, not me. Today, we announced our partnership with Harel, they have certain qualities. It’s a privilege to be a part of the National Team. This is the equivalent of military reserves in basketball terms. The last year, people made sacrifices so that we can play and be here, it’s a great privilege to be on the National Team. Whoever doesn’t come to play, don’t ask me why, ask those players.”

Of course the withdrawal of players also means that other players have an opportunity to pull on the blue and white jerseys, with Noam Yaacov, Yair Kravitz and Roi Huber joining the players who were initially announced to play, including Timor, Ben Saraf, Guy Palatin, Ethan Burg, Rafi Menco, Idan Zalmanson, Yotam Hanochi, Gur Lavy and Itay Segev.

“There were lots of players who were given the opportunity for this window,” Beit Halachmi said. “Some are injured and cannot play. There were more that have had a heavy load. Still, the team is coming to represent the country, there are lots of new players and it’s their challenge to prove themselves and secure their place in the team for the summer.”

“It’s like other times in the past,” Timor added. “There are players who bring experience and we’ll have Zali and Rafi with us. In the last windows we have brought the right atmosphere. On the National Team, you’re in a new role and you have to disconnect from your local team. We know the National Team, we do all that we can to win and our role as veterans is to bring that message to the new players, either playing in their first or second window.”

As captain of EuroCup playoff-bound Hapoel Tel Aviv, Timor has had the chance to watch one of the country’s most exciting young players, NBA prospect Saraf, from the other side of the court in intercontinental competition, with the young star playing a key role for German club Ulm.

“He’s an exceptional player and he was exception for the National Team in the previous window,” Timor said of Saraf. “We’ve seen how good he is this year. It’s great that he’s with us on the National Team. The Israeli fans need to watch these upcoming Israeli games at a reasonable hour, as soon it’ll be very inconvenient to watch him play [in games in the NBA]!”

Former Maccabi and National Team star, Israeli basketball legend Tal Brody, who famously moved from the US to Israel to play for the Yellow & Blue instead of playing in the NBA, asked Beit-Halahmy about another young Jewish NBA prospect, Michigan star Danny Wolf, who played a pivotal role together with Yaacov in Israel’s silver medal campaign in the GIBA U20 European Championship in Greece in 2020.

“Yes, we’re in contact with him,” Beit Halachmi said in response to the question. “He’s having a great season. He’s also going into the NBA draft. He doesn’t know about the upcoming summer and whether he’s available. I’ll take this opportunity to remind everyone that his status is that of a naturalized citizen – not an Israeli. We can only bring one naturalized citizen [Carrington is a naturalized citizen]. We’ll see, but if he does go into the NBA draft, he won’t be with us in the summer.”

This window of men’s National Team games are scheduled to be played against Portugal on Friday (21:00 Israel time, 14:00 ET) and against Slovenia on Monday (21:00 Israel time, 14:00 ET).