Israeli sports is at a standstill as the war with Iran rages on which began by an preemptive strike by the Jewish State to destroy the nuclear threat that has hung over the Holy Land for a number of decades. The country has declared a state of emergency through June 30th and with the skies closed for air travel, many of Israel’s top athletes and various sports teams have been effected for their upcoming competitions.

Some of these athletes and squads are stuck abroad and can’t return home while others who would be participating in major competitions representing the State of Israel can’t leave to attend which will also potentially effect some of their international rankings while training has been halted across the country.

With the Judo World Championships taking place in Hungary over the course of an entire week, only part of the team was able to participate due to the fact that the delegation was split up because of the length of the competition. The first few Israeli competitors arrived just before the competition opened with the balance supposed to be coming just before their weight class would be on the mat during the second half of the week.

This meant that Israel’s two silver medalists from the Paris 2024 Olympics, Inbar Lanir and Raz Hershko, will not be able to participate as they remained in Israel and were supposed to take off at the end of the week but were unable to do so because of the situation. Lanir and Hershko are at the top-level of their respective weight classes and were ticketed to winning medals in Hungary which would have resulted in financial rewards for both the athletes and the professional team which they will now miss out on.

In addition, by not participating in the competition points can’t be earned and they will dropping the international rankings which will mean that they may have tougher opponents earlier on in the competition going forward and the risk of not advancing would increase.

Hurdler Adva Cohen is another athlete that will lose points as the Israeli who broke the country’s record twice in 3,000 Meter Hurdles, who now lives in the United States, arrived in Israel last week in order to participate in the domestic championship as she wanted to accumulate more points ahead of the World Championships. However, the competition was canceled by the Athletics Federation and she cannot leave the country for Europe, where she would miss the opportunity to compete in the prestigious Diamond League in Paris. By coming to Israel and now being stuck she lost out on two upcoming events.

Other Israeli athletes who are already outside of the country at smaller competitions were told by the security establishment not to display any Israeli or Jewish symbols. Runners Blessing Afrifa was presented as a Belgian athlete and Noam Mamu registered as a Dutch athlete for a European running competition.

There is a Jerusalem Grand Slam slated for August 14th and athletes from all over the world are due to arrive in the Holy Land to compete in variety of disciplines will have to be canceled or postponed because of the current situation. This is the only international competition held in Israel among the Olympic sports and was canceled last year as well due to the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Maccabiah games, which was supposed to open on July 10th with Jews from around the world arriving in the Holy Land has been postponed until 2026.

The war has also stranded plenty of Israelis in the middle of various competitions around the world such as a sailing competition where two Israeli teams were instructed not to leave the hotel in Poland for the last day of the competition. However, a few hours later they received permission but at that point they missed one of the races that would have been critical for qualifying for the medal races. Nitai Hasson and Saar Tamir fell out of the top ten that qualified for the final and finished in 12th place. Since then they have been searching for a way back to Israel and it is not clear when they will return.

The Fencing Association was also in the middle of a competition similar to the judo team as only part of the delegation was sent to the European Championships because of the length of the competition in Italy. The association is now considering sending some of the delegation via boat to another country from where they will fly take to the European Championships.

In volleyball, the men’s and women’s national teams as well as beach volleyball players are now abroad and can’t return to Israel. As each day goes by, the volleyball association is spending a huge amount of money from its budget for about 50 people to stay abroad. The association has turned to the state in an attempt to receive help, because with each passing day the expenses for accommodations are increasing beyond reason.

No one knows when the war with Iran will end and there are major competitions coming up over the course of the summer including the World Windsurfing Championships and the World Swimming Championships slated for July and the associations hope that they will be able to send the country’s top athletes there. The Swimming Association is on the way to cancel the participation of Israelis in a number of competitions including the European Youth Open Water Championships and the European Youth Artistic Swimming Championships. The Gymnastics Association also canceled the participation in some of the competitions including the World Championships.

Another problem for everyone that is involved in the sports world is that training is prohibited because of the war as it would put large groups of athletes at risk and both the Wingate Institute and Hadar Yosef are closed.

The Olympic Committee and the state are trying to help out and the crisis may only be in its beginnings, but Israeli sports are shut down and are paying a heavy price because of the situation. A video conference was held with the various sports associations and the Chairperson of the Olympic Committee, Yael Arad, CEO Gili Lustig and Director of the Sports Achievement Unit Danny Oren met with the heads of the unions, with the aim of understanding where the problems and difficulties lie.

Arad, Lustig and Oren made it clear to the associations that they are in continuous contact with the Ministry of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar, CEO Kfir Cohen and Head of the Sports Administration Moran Mesika, who want to assist them in whatever is necessary during the war. The airport has never been closed for such a long time and the Olympic Committee is trying to use its good relations with other countries to allow athletes who are outside of Israel to stay at their respective national team facilities and find places for them to train until permission is given to fly back to Israel.

All in all, the longer the war with Iran continues more and more Israeli athletes will not be able to participate in events that they had been training for and looking forward to be performing in. However, this may be the cost that the current athletes will pay in order for the future ones to have the opportunity to be able to compete and compete at the highest of levels.