“United Through Sports,” an event commemorating 85 years since the 1936 Berlin Olympics was hosted by the Maccabi Tel Aviv BC, the Center for Jewish Impact and the World Zionist Organization (WZO) took place at Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics was hosted by Nazi Germany and the event at Yad Eliyahu celebrated the victory of sports over racism and antisemitism.

A number of interesting Jewish and Israelis including former president Reuven Rivlin, Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov, Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai, NBA commissioner Adam Silver along with Berlin mayor Michael Müller took part in the event either in person or via satellite.

The Center for Jewish Impact presented Rivlin with the “Tolerance in Sports” award and he commented upon receiving the award, “The battle against antisemitism, racism and hate speech is a battle that should be fought by everyone in the world. It does not matter what is the color of your skin or what is your faith, the only thing that matters is how hard you have worked.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also stated that, “The role of sports in society is something that we are proud of in the NBA. In times of a disturbing rise of hate speech, discrimination and antisemitism all over the world, we all must combine our efforts.”