The government has approved the entry of up to 50 Ukrainian athletes into Israel, following the war in their country and as part of the quota of 5,000 Ukrainian refugees approved by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked. The Minister of Culture and Sports, Hili Trooper, will visit them this coming Monday at the Wingate Institute, where about 40 lone athletes from Ukraine are currently staying. Athletes from Ukraine’s fencing and judo teams will come to Israel.
During their stay in Israel, the Ministry of Sports, in cooperation with the Wingate Institute, will give Ukrainian athletes a little peace of mind and a place to relax, and will take care of the various needs of the athletes along with the important training routine.
Meanwhile, Maccabi Israel has announced that it will adopt refugees who immigrated to Israel following the war in Ukraine. The chairman and CEO of Maccabi Israel, Yoram Eyal and Naor Galili, addressed a letter to the Maccabi associations this morning (Thursday), in order to staff them in clubs relevant to industries, in the various cities in which they will be housed. In addition, Maccabi Israel intends to recruit Olympic athletes from the Commonwealth of Independent States for encouragement and inspiration meetings with refugee athletes and also host them at Maccabi Israel team games.
Maccabi Israel has already received a unique request from the Ministry of Sports for the adoption of two young tennis players, who are considered very talented for their age. The request was to house them in Kfar HaMaccabiah and integrate them into the activities of the Maccabi Kfar HaMaccabiah tennis club, in cooperation with Maccabi World Movement, which is working to land the Maccabi Ukraine athletes already ahead of the Maccabiah in the summer. One of the tennis players, who by the way is not Jewish, said to be absorbed with his mother already at the weekend, when a request from the chairman of the Ukrainian Tennis Association was also attached to the application.
Maccabi Israel CEO Naor Galili also asked Meir Spiegler, head of the national task force for the absorption of immigrants from Ukraine and Russia, to receive a list of athletes – and received an immediate response: “Thank you for the offer, we will organize at headquarters.” cylindrical He clarified: “It is a privilege for us to help and absorb the athletes who had to flee the war in Ukraine. We will embrace them, and help them integrate as smoothly as possible into Israeli sports in the Maccabi associations, and in the cooperation of Maccabi World Movement, which already absorbs Maccabi Ukraine athletes.”