The Israel Judo Association (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ) is a sports association in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and its headquarters is located in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, Israel. The Association operates Israel's national judo teams, holds the Israeli Judo Championships for different age classifications, and offers courses and seminars for instructors, coaches, and referees. It is a member of the

European Judo Union The EJU consists of 51 national Judo federations/associations, and is itself recognised by the IJF as one of five continental unions. The organisation of the administration of Judo is based on a pyramid system of regulations, with the IJF the wo ...

History

The Israel Judo Association was established in 1965. Amos Greenspan, a second

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

, was Chairman of the Association in the early 1970s. At that time, the Association did not easily recognize belts earned overseas, as it sought to maintain very high standards. The Association held Israeli Judo Championships from 1969 for men, and from 1976 for women. Israel’s first two Olympic medals were in judo competing for

Israel at the 1992 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. 30 competitors, 25 men and 5 women, took part in 42 events in 10 sports. Israel won its first ever Olympic medals at these Games. The first medallist in Israel's history was Yael Ar ...

in Barcelona (

Yael Arad Yael Arad ( he, יעל ארד; born May 1, 1967) is an Israeli judoka. She was the first Israeli to win an Olympic Games, Olympic medal. She is widely recognized as one of Israel's most successful athletes and is credited with bringing judo into ...

won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in women’s half middleweight, and

Oren Smadja Shay-Oren Smadja ( he, אורן סמדג'ה; born June 20, 1970) is a former Israeli judoka and a judo coach. Smadja won the Olympic Games, Olympic bronze medal in judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics, making him the first Israeli man to win an Olymp ...

won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in men’s lightweight). The Israel Judo Association's Hall of Fame includes Arad, Smadja, world champion and Olympic bronze medalist

Yarden Gerbi Yarden Gerbi (or Jerbi, he, ירדן ג'רבי; born July 8, 1989) is an Israeli former judoka world champion. She won an Olympic bronze medal competing for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Women's 63 kg Judo. Gerbi won the gold m ...

, and Olympic bronze medalist

Ariel Ze'evi Ariel "Arik" Ze'evi ( he, אריאל "אריק" זאבי, born 16 January 1977) is a retired Israeli dan 6 black belt in Judo. He had a long and successful career competing in half-heavyweight Judo competitions. He is an Olympic bronze medal fina ...

. Israel Judo Association's President is

Moshe Ponte Moshe Ponte (also "Ponti"; he, משה פונטה; born August 29, 1956) is an Israeli former Olympic judoka. He is the President of the Israel Judo Association. He was born in Israel, and is Jewish. Judo career His coach was Morris Smadga. Po ...

. Ponti said in August 2016, as judo became Israel’s unofficial national sport with five of its nine Olympic medals coming in judo: "Soccer may be more popular, but this is what we are good at. Every other kid in Israel does it." As of November 2016, the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...

and the Israel Judo Association had begun developing Judo for Peace (JFP) activities in the region, for the benefit of all its communities."Judo for Peace in Israel"
ijf.org

References

External links

* * {{Sports governing bodies in Israel Judo in Israel Judo organizations

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

Organizations based in Tel Aviv 1965 establishments in Israel Sports organizations established in 1965