"For 500 days and nights I've missed my beloved firstborn son so much. I have tears in my eyes now when I hear that number. It's inhuman. I'm still stuck on October 7. I must replay, every night, our last conversation. My Edan called before 7 AM and spoke loudly because of the noise around him. I hear explosions in the background that won't stop, and Edan tells me: 'You won't believe what I'm seeing here – war. I took shrapnel to my helmet, but I'm okay.' And I, his mother, beg him: 'Edan, take care of yourself, protect yourself, I'm with you, I love you so much,'" Yael Alexander recounts.

The call was cut off. Edan was taken captive to Gaza from a military post near Nirim kibbutz near the Gaza border. Yael says she was beside herself. "You're just a shell, you're finished. We weren't human beings. I couldn't sleep or eat. Boom. Suddenly your child disappears. For five nerve-wracking days we didn't know day from night. We opened many operations rooms, until after several agonizing days they informed us Edan was captive in Gaza. An insane nightmare. But at least we knew he was alive and walking on his feet."

"It was like a knife in the heart"

Since then, Yael, an artist, and her husband, Adi, a diamond dealer, who live in the US, haven't stopped for even a moment crisscrossing Washington and other American states. Edan has American citizenship, and his parents now dedicate their lives to fighting with all their might for his return from captivity – along with all the other hostages. They leave their occupations for days each week for the struggle. Last Friday afternoon, Yael arrived in Israel just as the names of three more released hostages were announced. By Saturday evening she was already at the Hostages Square, raising Edan's photo on stage. "I admit it was difficult for me. This is my first time in Israel during a release. The TV images of what Hamas is doing simply hurt my stomach. They're stressful."

As part of their heroic struggle, Yael and Adi met with, among others, President Donald Trump ("he's very committed to the hostages"), as well as administration officials and other figures. They conduct interviews and work tirelessly to influence and bring back their captive son. "It's not Jewish, not ethical, and not moral not to support getting all the hostages out immediately, and now," says Yael, "certainly not to support stage two of the deal, during which our Edan is finally supposed to leave this terrible captivity."
"We saw the latest returnees, and for me, it was like a knife in the heart. On one hand, I was happy for the families, and on the other hand, it wasn't simple to see them. Edan fought to be in the army. Why, why aren't they fighting for him now in return? I cry out – give me back my son already! Bring all the hostages home!"

"He wouldn't give up serving in the IDF"

Edan is their firstborn son. When he was just two and a half months old, Yael (45) and Adi (52) moved to the US, and from age 4 Edan grew up in New Jersey. He has a sister, Mika (18), and a brother, Roy (13), who recently celebrated his bar mitzvah without his brother.

A warm, united, enveloping, and loving family. Yael speaks with sparkling eyes about her Edan: a child full of joy, charismatic, who always knew how to unite his many friends around him. She gets emotional talking about him, her voice cracking from time to time.

"Our Edan was always super social, super family-oriented. A talented and beloved child, always smiling, someone who really loved life. We were always very, very close. Edan and I loved to travel together for a day of fun in New York. We had deep, moving conversations. He's the funniest person in the world. Hilarious. He devoured life. How much I love this child."

After finishing high school in the US, while his many friends went to study in college, Edan refused to give up on military service in Israel. "It wasn't simple for us at first," Yael recalls, "but Edan was very determined. He was in the Garin Tzabar program here in New York and made aliyah in August 2022. A young man, my precious boy. It was hard for him at first with the distance from home, and for us, too. We missed him very much. Fortunately, I have a very large family in Israel who embraced him, and we also came to Israel a lot and were with him. He, for his part, made sure to come visit us."

In Israel, Edan lived in Kibbutz Hatzor, where "He has a wonderful adoptive family," according to Yael. He enlisted in the Golani Brigade in mid-December 2022 as a lone soldier. He frequently visited his grandparents, as well as other family members.

Two months before Black Saturday, Edan traveled to visit his family in the US. Yael surprised him when she decided to come to Israel a month and a half later to meet him and her family here. "I arrived in Israel on September 31, 2023, and Edan and I spent a lot of time together. All the time. With my family in Tel Aviv, with grandmother, Varda, and grandfather, Baruch, with my siblings. We went on an art tour, ate malabi, the dessert he loves so much. And we kept hanging out. That's what Edan is like, full of vitality and energy. We were at the beach, and then went to eat hamburgers. He was happy."

"He feels us from afar"

To Yael's regret, Edan had to return to his base near Nirim. She still managed to drive him to Hatzor, they even took photos in the car and at the entrance to his home in the kibbutz. She didn't know these would be her last pictures with him until he returns from captivity.

"On the evening of Simchat Torah, on Friday, the day before October 7, Edan was with us for Kiddush on FaceTime. A handsome boy. There was a wonderful atmosphere. We agreed to talk the next morning. Who knew our next conversation would already be during a terrible war. Our lives turned upside down. It tears my heart apart. Makes me cry so much."

"My son had a sweet life in the US, and he chose to be somewhere else, in Israel. What kind of terrible reality is this? I want them to bring him back to us already. What happened to us? What kind of leadership do we have? Where is the right, just judgment? I say to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 'Think for just one moment what would happen if this was your son.'"

Yael says she must also take care of her two other children, to be strong for them too. She admits that often they are the ones strengthening her. She tells how Mika has already spoken several times at massive rallies across the US for the hostages ("in front of 600,000 people in the crowd").

"They're amazing, my children. They were unwillingly enlisted in the struggle, in the war to bring their brother back from Gaza. Edan was supposed to come to Roy's bar mitzvah celebration, six months after the day he was kidnapped. That obviously didn't happen. We all went to the event wearing shirts with Edan's picture and the call to bring him home now. Mika and Roy miss their brother very much, they're both very close to him. Like us, they don't stop working toward the goal of his return to them."

Yael also tells about the proof of life she received from her son, after 421 days in captivity. "I was in Israel at the time. I suddenly heard they were going to release a video of Edan, our son, and the ground fell out from under me. I couldn't stop crying. It was shattering. Edan appeared in the video pale and thinner, didn't look like our Edan. I was overcome with a range of emotions. On one hand, it was important proof of life for us. Look, Edan is alive. But this is your child, and you see him in such a state. I just wanted to hug him already. I'm an optimistic person, and I want to see good things. My son is strong, and I know he can survive this. I believe he feels us from afar. Since the video we haven't received any additional proof of life from him, and I repeat our request again: get him out of there already!"

She tells again and again that her heart is "constantly torn" and seeking solace. What does a mother hold onto, 500 days without her beloved son?

"I'm eagerly waiting for my meeting with Edan," says the lioness mother, who has come to Israel again to fight for his release. "I just want to sit next to him. He has very comforting shoulders. I'll put my head on his shoulder and tell him 'how wonderful, how wonderful that we're together again.' I don't know what he'll want when he's with us again. Maybe he'll say he's craving Thai food. Maybe sushi. I just want to reach that moment already – when our Edan will sit with us at home."

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There they are. Look at them. Look at how they return. After 491 days in captivity at the hands of these animals, emaciated, exhausted, broken. It's chilling to think this way, reminiscent of images we wanted to forget from 80 years ago. Shedding a harsh, unfiltered light on the extreme inhumane conditions in which they were held. Supported, walking slowly, forced to take part in the humiliating and horrific spectacle orchestrated by Hamas.

Every Israeli heart asked in those moments: What did they endure? Did they go entire days without food? Did they not see daylight for all those long months? Did they lose hope? What kept them going? What fragile thread of faith did they cling to in order to survive? 491 days in the tunnels. 491 days cut off from the world, from their families, from even the faintest comfort. True heroes.

I accompanied Ela Ben Ami, Ohad's daughter, in the first hours after her parents, Raz and Ohad, were kidnapped on that black Saturday. And in the weeks that followed. She was inconsolable. She cried out desperately for help. Her father was the first hostage whose photo was published from Gaza, wearing boxers, a short black T-shirt, held tightly.

And now, Ela, her sisters, and Raz, their mother, who herself returned from captivity, are welcoming him home. But what version of Ohad is coming back to them? What is his mental state? How gaunt and frail he looks, the images are overwhelming, impossible to shake. The mind cannot rest.

Ohad, Eli, and Or are home now. They have already received the deep, warm embrace of their families. Just imagine little Almog, running to his father, Or, melting into his arms. The heart shatters.

To think of Ela, who fought with all her might, finally able to smell the scent of her father, Ohad.

And we must, must, look again and again at those images of them stepping out of the murderers' vehicle. We must see them, and we must bring them all back home. Now. As fast as possible. Because as time passes, the images will only become more unbearable. God forbid, they could become the images of bodies returned to us,  in utter heartbreak.

Now. All of them.

The post Look at them appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

This tragedy is almost impossible to digest. "In the end, he died from a nut allergy, from f***ing halva with nuts from the market," says Max Carmeli, 25, a close friend of the late Jordan Cooper, who fought alongside him in the IDF. "He was the strongest person I knew. He outlifted the best fighters in the Sayeret Matkal and the naval commandos, wasn't afraid of anything, led dangerous missions – and fell in the most unnecessary death imaginable."

Max isn't exaggerating at all. Cooper, who lost his life at just 25 years old, survived numerous daring operations, some classified, in the IDF, as well as fierce fighting alongside Ukrainians against the Russians. During his service, he escaped missiles, mines, and heavy bombardments, and even whizzing bullets couldn't touch him. He looked death in the eye, fearlessly, and always prevailed.

His story didn't leave Israelis indifferent. Thousands came last week to pay their final respects at the funeral, after his family – who could not make it to Israel due to flight cancellations – feared he would be buried alone. Many others, who didn't know Jordan in life, visited the family to offer comfort.

His parents, Ross, 65, and Marla ,64, say their son was a "fighter for the Jewish people" and that even as a young child in the United States, he dreamed of serving and protecting the State of Israel. Now they are heartbroken, struggling to understand how their hero son passed away in such circumstances, just as they had arrived to spend time with him in Israel.

"He always knew what to say to us, even in the midst of combat days," Ross said, "He always found something funny to tell us and gave us a feeling that everything was okay. We feel that now, after Jordan passed away, all of Israel is with us, and it really warms our hearts."

The most combat-ready there is 

The scene is very unusual. Marla and Ross are sitting shiva in an apartment they rented on Geula St. in Tel Aviv. They came to visit their son along with his brother Ethan, 23, and 94-year-old grandfather Jerry. Until the tragedy struck, they had been on tours in the scorching August sun and enjoyed some rare family days. Now they are dressed in black, their faces downcast, and they present to the comforters the beautiful book they had prepared for Jordan while he was still alive, after his release from regular service.

Countless comforters arrive at the apartment, people they don't know. Strangers who heard about the family's appeal to attend the funeral and pay their last respects, and came by the thousands. One of them, for example, brought cooked food that would last a week. Others bring refreshments and drinks. A soldier who served with him cuts watermelon, others clear the table.

Marla recounts that Jordan knew from a very young age what he wanted to do when he grew up. "He always wanted to be a soldier, a Maccabee, a fighter for the Jewish people," she says, "We thought it was a cute childhood fantasy and that it would pass."

Ross nods with a sad smile from the nearby couch. "I read him passages from military history books before bedtime," he recalls, "That was the only way he would calm down and go to sleep. I told him about Israel's wars and World War II. It fascinated him and filled him with a sense of purpose."

"You have to understand," says Marla, "he didn't grow up in a military home, there were no weapons in the house. What he got from us was the immense love for the State of Israel and the desire to protect it and ensure its future."

His parents recount that as a child, Jordan used to attend Zionist summer camps in Pennsylvania where he grew up, and that one of the members of the Jewish community there enlisted in the IDF, became a fighter, and fell in the Second Lebanon War. As a result, the American soldier became Jordan's idol, and "he would read everything he could about him," they say.

At 17, the parents recount, Jordan announced to them that he wanted to move to Israel and enlist in the army. Ross explains that he tried to change his son's mind because it didn't seem like an integral part of an American teenager's life, but Jordan was determined.

At 18, he came to Israel through the Masa program, and here, in Kibbutz Mishmar HaSharon in the Hefer Valley, he met Max, who also came from the US. Two young Americans, 18 at the time, who came to experience Israel through agricultural work.

"We worked in the kibbutz's landscaping. We were a group of Americans, French, and South Americans and stayed there for a month, during which we also took trips around the country," Carmeli recalls, adding that Jordan told him he was planning to fly back to the US, study for a year in college, and then move to Israel.

Ross and Marla recount that Jordan promised them that he would try studying for a year in college before enlisting in the IDF. They hoped that the good life there would draw their son in and that he would abandon his idea of military service in the conflict-ridden Middle East. "The result was the opposite," Marla recounts in a tone of pride and sorrow, "What he heard and saw in college only convinced him more to want to enlist in the Israeli army."

And so, after a year in college, through the so-called Tzabar program, young Cooper left the US and moved to Israel, on a journey of acclimatization, learning Hebrew, and enlisting in the army. "He wanted to enlist in the Golani reconnaissance unit," says Marla, "He talked about nothing else. He didn't manage to pass the course due to language gaps, but he didn't give up. He fought to get into another reconnaissance unit – and succeeded."

Carmeli recounts that he was stunned when he accidentally met him on a lone soldiers event, after they hadn't met since their days at Mishmar HaSharon. "Suddenly I see Jordan among thousands of people," he recalls, "It was wow. We took a picture together, and I realized: he had kept his word and returned to Israel. Again we parted, and I didn't know when I would see him again. It was very important to him to do the most combat-oriented and meaningful military service he could. He fought for it, and one day he came to us, to the Nahal reconnaissance unit, and started advanced training with us."

Carmeli and Cooper became close friends. As fighters, they often faced real life-threatening situations. "Jordan was the strongest soldier I knew," Carmeli recounts, "He came to us and trained like a psycho, didn't stop running and working out. One day we were in a counter-terrorism course and fighters from Sayeret Matkal and the naval commandos also came. We had a weightlifting competition. Who won? Jordan. He lifted the most out of everyone."

Among other things, the two went through Operation Guardian of the Walls together, did a tour in the West Bank, and participated in many dangerous missions. "We were on an arrest operation in Tulkarm, and suddenly someone threw a Molotov cocktail from one of the houses," Carmeli recounts. "The bottle fell on Jordan's legs, and luckily it didn't explode because otherwise, he and all the soldiers around him would have been killed."

You have nothing to worry about

Cooper was highly motivated. He never complained that it was hard for him, and always went first. He also didn't tell the army about his nut allergy, but was very careful not to touch food when he didn't know exactly what its ingredients were.

"We would sometimes be in the field, and Jordan would simply stay starving because his Hebrew wasn't really good and he didn't know how to read all the ingredients of the food. He knew tuna was okay and corn too, but everything else, which was the significant component of our food, he didn't touch because he was protecting himself."

At some point, Cooper decided to sign on for career service, out of a desire to finish his service together with his team. He was discharged around March two and a half years ago, and immediately rushed to his new and exciting challenge.

"He decided he had to fly to Ukraine and fight there against the Russians," Carmeli recounts. "As always, he took it as seriously as possible. He bought ceramic vests, a tactical helmet, a winter coat, a special bag, shoes, everything with his own money. I had just returned from a trip around the world and met Jordan before he flew to Ukraine. He told me 'Max, I have to get there and fight. I want to tell my future children that I fought against the Russians too.'"

Cooper caught the first plane and landed straight with his team, to fight in the north. "He had lost almost all his friends in Ukraine, who were killed in front of his eyes," Carmeli recounts. "One day they encountered a minefield, and people there were killed one by one. Jordan managed to survive and cross to the other side. It was good for him to come here and be with his team. At first, they put us in some forest near Kiryat Shmona, but Jordan felt he wasn't doing enough in the north.

"All the time he was saying 'What am I doing sitting in some bush waiting for something from Hezbollah?' He wanted to use all his combat skills and do it inside Gaza, against the terrorists, but his team didn't agree with him and didn't want to give him up. He talked with our company commander, who was in Gaza, and wanted to get there."

It didn't happen. Cooper continued to fight in the north, and there he fought alongside Nir, whom we meet at the shiva. "I saw a bearded soldier with Ukrainian camouflage gear, Ukrainian unit insignia, and a Ukrainian vest," he recounts. "I didn't understand what a foreign soldier was doing with us until they explained to me what it was about."

Cooper specialized in drone warfare in Ukraine - an arena that has become increasingly complex and necessary in recent years. "He had tremendous experience in incorporating drones into combat," Nir recounts, "He also assisted in drone donations to our unit."

They did more than 200 days of reserve duty there until they were released home. Cooper had big plans. He decided to settle in Israel, to be accepted into the Border Police undercover unit as a career soldier and to build his life with his beloved Valeria. "The days after his release, when we met here in Israel, were magical," says Valeria, "It was a dream. We went to see antiquities in Caesarea, ate at restaurants. It's my first time in Israel and everything was so exciting."

Those who were very close to the family were Patty and Shlomo Asur from Moshav Segula in the south, who were essentially Jordan's adoptive family in Israel. Patty immigrated to Israel from the US 33 years ago, married Shlomo, and they have four children.

"We have a shared family history," she recounts, "Our mothers were very connected in the US, and when Jordan came to Israel we immediately connected with him. He was always invited to us on Fridays, on holidays, our home was open to him. He connected wonderfully with our children.

"We had many beautiful moments with him. We loved him very much. He would always tell me how good he felt in the country and how much he loved the army. We had three shared loves: love for family, for the country, and for food. We both love to eat very much. Whenever he came to us we made sure there was everything good – meat, fish, couscous, and other good food.

"On Friday, before he died, we all sat at their apartment. Marla prepared food and we brought challah and matbucha and Moroccan fish that Shlomo prepared. Jordan told Shlomo that the matbucha was amazing. The truth is that Marla hesitated this time about coming for a visit because of the Iranian threat, but in the end, they chose to come. They are a very connected family. On that Friday, when we were at their place, Marla as usual lit candles and blessed Jordan and Ethan who stood beside her.

"After Jordan died, she wanted us to come on Friday too. That moment, when she lit the candles and blessed only Ethan, was heartbreaking. We all cried. Afterwards we sang 'Shalom Aleichem' with Jordan's good friends who were with us too. It was very moving."

"The people of Israel are with us"

Carmeli recounts that Jordan and his family also went to Jerusalem, were at the Western Wall, and also went to the Mahane Yehuda market, where they bought halva. They were told it was without nuts. "From what I know, Jordan intended to fast on Tisha B'Av and before the fast ate from that halva," he says.

"It was nine in the evening," Valeria recounts, "I had just landed in the room when Jordan came in. He said he was having a severe allergic attack, he was all swollen, and asked me to find his syringe. I had never seen him like that. Within a few minutes, he could no longer stand.

"He asked me to look for more syringes that were in his room, and by the time I managed to find them he had already been evacuated to the hospital, and there was a nerve-wracking wait there. They asked us to wait and we were in tension and anxiety. A doctor came and asked us to accompany him to a certain room, and there they told us that Jordan had passed away."

The shock was absolute.

At the funeral, "we found ourselves in the midst of an unimaginable crowd that just wanted to hug, to say a good and comforting word," Marla recounts, "From the moment the shiva began, people we had never met before kept coming. We feel that all of Israel is with us."

We meet them a day before the end of the shiva. At the end of the mourning period, they flew back to the US, heartbroken. Marla says that "Jordan was brave and generous. He loved being a soldier and loved the country and its residents."

When she recounts how he raised money for his team commander in regular service, an officer who was recently wounded in Gaza and lost his leg below the knee, her strength fails her and she bursts into tears, "Who would have believed that after everything he went through on the battlefield, this is how it would end?"

The post IDF soldier's unusual death: 'He died in the most unnecessary of ways' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

"I still can't comprehend it," a tired Linoy Ashram, a newly minted Olympic champion, says with a smile, shortly after she landed in Israel on Wednesday. Her hometown of Rishon Letzion welcomed her with posters bearing her image, as well as those of Olympic medalists Peter Paltchik and Artem Dolgopyat, all across the city.

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A giant "Welcome Home" was hung on the modest building where the Ashram family resides. The apartment itself is full of flowers, chocolates and balloons reflecting the pride in the first Israeli woman to win a gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics.

"I'm still living the dream," she says. "Only now, slowly, I'm beginning to understand the magnitude of the achievement.

"I came to Tokyo with the goal of giving my all and experiencing the moment and the feeling of being there, at the Olympics. I knew that, if I did well, I could return with some kind of medal, but I didn't imagine what color it would be. The idea that it would be gold didn't enter my head."

Q: What did you feel after the tense moments of waiting for the score of your rival, Russian Dina Averina?

"I cried. I cried with Ayelet [Ashram's trainer] and I cried when I was joined in an interview by my mom and dad, and I cried in my first conversation with my boyfriend. He told me how proud he was of me and how much he loved me. They were amazing moments. I had a big and long hug with Ayelet. How far we had come up to this moment, how much she had held me.

"We were so happy and we are still so happy. At the medal ceremony, when I saw my friends in the Israeli delegation who had stayed, when I heard them applauding me and singing the anthem, it was one of the most moving moments in my life.

"That night, after they awarded the medal, I didn't sleep at all. Maybe I dozed for 40 minutes. The medal was beside me all the time."

Q: Do you believe in God?

"Yes. I went with Ayelet to the Western Wall before we flew to Japan and I placed a note there. I light the candles on Shabbat, fast on Yom Kippur, and I recited 'Shema Yisrael' to myself before every routine."

Two weeks ago, when she had only just landed in Japan, things were not so rosy for Ashram. On the second night for her and the team which accompanied her, while they were still in the training camp in the city of Ichihara, her coach Ayelet Zussman felt that something wasn't right.

"When we arrived in Japan, a week before the competition, we had white nights," Zussman recalls. "That night, I couldn't sleep because of the jet lag, and I felt that Linoy was also awake. 4:30 a.m., I decided to check when she had last been seen on WhatsApp, and I saw that she was online. Twenty minutes later, I saw that she was again on WhatsApp, and I realized that she wasn't able to sleep.

"We went up on the roof of the hotel. The city was spread out before us, the morning was beginning, and we had a heart-to-heart talk, where she told me about all the pressure she was under."

Q: What did she tell you?

"That she was stressed, that she was afraid to disappoint the country and me as well. I calmed her down and I said, 'You don't disappoint me. The path that you took, that we took, up to now, that is what's important. Here you just have to enjoy yourself.' I told her how much I had faith in her, in her ability, in who she is.

"We remembered her successes over the last few years, and from that night I saw that things were released in her. Everything passed. Her functioning improved, she slept well at night, I felt that she calmed down."

The Olympic champion smiles. "Ayelet senses me every moment, she maybe understands me even more than my mother. Without saying a word, she knows that I'm not falling asleep, she knows what to say to me. She is so considerate towards me.

"On other nights as well, she sits with me right up until I fall asleep. She's really special. Overall, I don't know how I would have got through the corona period without her. I'm sure that it would have been far more difficult to get through this year, the postponement of the Olympics, which basically meant doing another year of training, and competitions, until the pinnacle."

After four days in Ichihara, they arrived at a four-bedroom flat in the Olympic Village in Tokyo. Four women stayed there: Ashram, the brilliant Nicole Zilkman, who also reached the finals, Zussman, and Ela Samofalov, Zilkman's coach. A united team, loving and supportive of one another. Each of them had their own room. They were together when they wanted, and when they needed to, they retired to their bedroom, to be alone for a little.

When they arrived in Tokyo, Zussman enlisted more mental support for Ashram, this time from Ofek (21), her boyfriend.

"I tried, as much as I could, to isolate Linoy from all the noise surrounding her," she explains. "But I knew how important her mobile phone was to her, through which she received support from her amazing family, from her friends and from her boyfriend, who is really salt of the earth.

"I asked him to set an alarm, so that he would call Linoy every night at 1:30 a.m. Israeli time. In Tokyo it was 7:30 in the morning, so that's how she started the day, with a 'good morning' from her boyfriend and a big, sweet smile. I knew how much good it would do for Linoy, and he flowed with me and was brilliant."

As the qualifiers began, Ashram had an error in her first routine with the hoop.

"Ayelet knew exactly what to say to me so that I would focus again," Ashram, who finished in 15th place, climbing to third place by the end of the qualifiers, recalls. She told me 'Linoy, calm down, the goal here is only to reach the final, only the top 10. You have another three routines to get through, to do everything despite what happened.' Afterwards I felt completely focused and full of purpose, and I didn't think of anything apart from the routines.

"I continued only to do my best, with the goal of succeeding in reaching the final."

Q: What did you do in the evening between the qualifiers and the final?

"Myself, the Russian twins and the Belarussian gymnasts stayed in the arena to train. It was only us. I don't know why they came; I came to go over my routines. Afterward I ate dinner, and I spoke with Ayelet about what happened in the qualifiers and about how I can get up to give my maximum in the final. We spoke about how important is to get up with new and good energies."

Eyes on the prize

The morning of the final, Ashram and Zussman woke in good spirits.

"We put on fun and rhythmic songs, we ate breakfast, including pineapple, which was the tastiest thing that I ate there, danced and were happy," Ashram says. "We were together all the time, Nicole, her trainer Ela, Ayelet and myself. I really reached the final in the best spirits possible."

Q: Did you go into the final with the goal of winning the gold?

"No. And I didn't feel like I was on my way to the gold medal. I knew that there was the Russian and the Belarussian, and that every time I was first in the rankings, I knew that it wasn't over.

"During the routines, I understood that I would get a medal, and after the ribbon routine I knew that I was in first place, and then it was insanely stressful. The waiting was one of the tensest moments in my life, and they played music with drumming in the background. But I knew that no matter what, I had an Olympic medal. I was third in many competitions, after the Russians, so the very act of winning a medal was an achievement and I only waited to see the result.

"The tension was enormous. Nicole whispered in my ear: 'We fulfilled a dream, it doesn't matter what the score is, you've won a medal and you've done your best.' We are always like that, we lift each other up, and over the course of the competition, we were a united foursome, together with the coaches. There was never such a strong connection, both between coaches and between gymnasts. We help one another, and Ela, Nicole's coach, also lifted me after the hoop routine in the qualifiers."

Q: What did you think after you dropped the ribbon in the last routine? Did the thought "I ruined it all" go through your head?

"I was pessimistic. I felt that perhaps it would harm my final score and drop me down a bit in the rankings, but I continued because that's who I'm, I give my maximum even when something doesn't go right and there's a hitch. On some level, it even resets me, and that's also what happened with the ribbon. Within a second, I succeeded in returning to myself. After the routine Ayelet said to me that my difficulty level was really high and that the mistake shouldn't harm my score too much, and she was right."

Q: Your main rivals, Russian twins Dina and Arina Averina, didn't take the loss so well. Did you speak with them?

"At the end of the final I approached Dina, who finished second, and I wanted to congratulate her. But she was crying and was in no state to talk. Since then, there wasn't an opportunity to talk or to get in touch at all. At competitions we say hello and wish good luck to one another, and after the competition we congratulate one another at the end."

Q: What do you think about the criticism from Russia, the claims about the judges and the appeal?

"I don't deal with what others are saying. I made my achievement, and it's mine together with Ayelet and the professional team. Whoever wants, they can say what they want, I'm happy with what I achieved.

"In the World Championships in 2018, Dina's ribbon fell, and she still beat me. We didn't say a word. That's the judging, and that's the Olympics. That is, the fairest judging there is. I also heard already that Dina said it's not my fault."

Q: Did you get ugly responses? Antisemitism? Any types of accusations?

"I don't know why it has to reach the level of antisemitism. There are people who think one way and there are people who think another way."

Q: Have you seen the Russian Tiktok challenge which tries to ridicule you?

"I haven't seen it. It's happening because they're not used to it. Their gymnasts always win, and suddenly it happened. Maybe they thought it was in their pocket."

Q: Do you think you proved yourself to those who didn't believe in you?

"I think so."

Q: Before your competition, did you watch Artem Dolgopyat's gold?

"Of course. We sat together in training watched Artem's final, and when he won we jumped up and went wild. We called to congratulate him straight afterwards, it was so great to know that someone had succeeded in winning the gold. We knew that he was capable, he just needed to perform his best routine."

Q: Did his medal encourage you?

"Yes. The thought went through my head that I wanted it too, that I already wanted to compete. Artem had competed, he had already experienced it, and we still hadn't been in the Olympic Village, because we only got there on August 2^nd."

Q: Was there a change in the rules that helped you reach your peak?

"From 2017 the rules began to change for the benefit of working with the apparatus. The faster you are, your difficulty level increases, and you can meet the requirements more. Before that, there was a restriction on elements in the routine. In terms of jumping, it was always possible in the past to do more jumps, but in the past, we didn't think of doing it."

Q: And what about the music in the different routines? Is it really chosen so carefully?

"In Tokyo we chose the song Big in Japan, because of the host country of course, and Hava Nagila because of its significance and the fact that its synonymous with Israel. It's a song I've worked with for a year. Apart from that I'm a fan of Beyonce and I had two of her songs. By the way, regarding external appearance, for competitions I do my own makeup and I do my own hair."

Linoy already came to Tokyo with a wardrobe full of medals: silver and bronze medals from the 2018 and 2019 World Championships, a gold, silver and bronze medal from the 2020 European Championships, and bronze medals from the 2017 European Championships – to name a few.

The ones who helped her the whole way are her parents, Oren (49), a standing IDF soldier, and Hedva, a kindergarten teacher, her sisters Chen (25) and Hila (9), and her brother Idan (24).

"My mother believed in me my whole life," she says, "When she brought me to the gym for the first time, she said to my trainer, 'You'll see, this will be the Israeli Nadia Comaneci.' The coach thought that my mother didn't understand, because Comaneci was an instrumental gymnast, but my mother knew that. She only said it because of her achievements.

"When I was 13, I went through a crisis. I'd had enough and I quit, and I remember that suddenly I didn't understand why I needed all this. I felt that I deserved to be someone different. I decided that I wanted to move to swimming, but after a month I was bored of spending all day in the water. I felt that something was lacking, that it's not what I want, so I went to my mother and cried for her to take me back to gymnastics."

Q: In Tokyo, were you in close contact with your parents?

"I tried to send them pictures and to speak with them. I prefer pictures on WhatsApp and not voice calls, because they understand me, and before competitions, they give me space and try to disturb me as little as possible. They are afraid that it will prevent me from focusing but when I send something they immediately respond."

Q: Would you have preferred that they would have been with you there? And in general, that competitions would take place in front of a live audience?

"Yes, a competition with fans is more fun. But I was concentrated on myself and the competition, so it didn't change me. Of course, if it had been possible, I would have wanted my family coming to watch.

"I didn't think my father would come to the European Championships. He took me to the airport when he was upset, and then he discovered that they opened half a stand and he called to organize tickets. After two days, just like that, my dad, mum and sister Hila suddenly landed there."

Q: Your family couldn't go to Tokyo, but the media, who assembled at their home during the final, captured their excitement.

"The night before the final we didn't sleep, nor the night before that," her father Oren says. "We sat a lot watching television, we did sports and we tried everything to deal with the pressure and to calm the nerves.

"Before the final I sent Linoy one message: 'We believe in you and love you, do what you know to do and whatever happens will happen.' The Olympics was always her dream, but until eleventh grade we said to her 'first of all studies.' When she reached eleventh grade Hedva said to me "Oren, let go. Let her do what she loves,' and in eleventh grade I let go, I let her do what she was good at."

Q: Did you worry when she dropped the hoop in the qualifiers?

"We were very anxious. I didn't worry, I thought that she was stressed and we didn't know exactly what she was going through, but she improved very quickly, got back to herself and her smile and was enjoying herself in the arena."

Q: What did you feel while watching the final?

"We were stressed, but when I saw that she was in good spirits I knew that she was going to win a medal. We didn't know which medal, but we knew she would achieve something. We understand our girl even with our eyes closed.

"Now I'm euphoric. Calm, and I have time for myself. There's time until the next Olympics, life is good. If Linoy decides to continue, we'll fly to the next Olympics. Of course, even now I would have flown if it had been possible, even at the cost of catching corona."

Q: You obviously also supported her financially.

"We were always there to support her, to take her to training and fetch her – myself, Hedva, grandma and grandpa and my son, like a taxi firm. We bought the costumes, we took out loans and did everything under the heading "Linoy."

"Before she was successful at an international level, and the union took care of her and sponsors took interest, it was all on us. From six years old until she was 14, for eight years, we paid for everything: clothes for competitions, flights and hotels. Everything costs thousands of shekels. In short, we spent a lot of money, hundreds of thousands of shekels."

Q: Did she ever think about quitting? That maybe it isn't worth it?

"No. She always wanted to do gymnastics, with or without injuries. She wanted to continue at any cost, nothing bothered her. Six weeks before the European Championships, she pulled off a routine with a torn meniscus. Two days before she returned to competition and won a medal. That's her stubbornness, maybe it's from me."

Ashram still hasn't had a chance to go through the thousands of messages she received on social media, and just like what happened with the bronze medallist Avishag Samberg, the number of people following her on Instagram has soared since the victory.

"Until the final I had 64,000 followers, now I have 180,000 and it's really fun for me," she smiles. "It really moved me to speak with President Herzog and Prime Minister Bennett, and to receive thousands of messages and shares. I also saw the greeting from Shalom Michaelshwilli in the style of the Russian coach, and it made me laugh.

"This attention is nice and it shows that many people know me, that I'm in their consciousness and that they appreciate me and are pleased by my success. On the other hand, I'm also shy, and it doesn't suit me to be famous. I like the anonymity and the privacy."

Q: Is that why you blocked your Instagram to responses?

"I blocked mainly because they said to me that it would be better if not everyone was able to follow me. Now I have to approve everyone who wants to follow me and I have thousands of messages and requests waiting for me. Does someone want to come and approve instead of me?"

Linoy gives special credit for her achievement to her coach, Zussman (42), and the whole professional team, which includes her personal manager Ophir Even and the physiotherapist Natali Bertler (36), who have accompanied Ashram and Zilman over the last few years on a daily basis.

"Ayelet was everything for me," Ashram says, "she did everything for me and she gives her all to this relationship. The relationship between a coach and gymnast becomes a relationship like a second mother, or a big sister. I'm not at home most of the time, but with her, so she is the first person that turn to, and she helped with everything."

"Linoy began the qualifying stages very badly," she explains, returning for a moment to the professional side of things. "She failed in the hoop apparatus, but that didn't surprise me at all. I knew that it could happen to her at the beginning, because it also happened in the past, but I also knew that she would recover from it. Yes, when she was in 15th place it stressed me out, but I told her: 'You're Linoy Ashram, and you're capable of more. It's money time and you can do it.

"I wasn't angry with her, because I knew that it would lift her and she would stand up straight, sharpen her senses and get back to herself. Even before the competition I knew that we had created a big gap with the other competitors, thanks to the difficulty level Linoy was carrying out in her routines, and I had no doubt that she would be in the final.

"After the hoop routine, Linoy rose up like a giant and proved from what kind of champion's material she was formed. I was happy because the goal was the final and I knew that from there everything was open. At the end of the qualifiers she stayed to train, ate and went to sleep at ten at night. I peeked into her room to see that she was really sleeping."

Q: How did you feel after the victory?

"We both cried, we looked at one another and spoke with our eyes, without words. I said to her basically: 'You did it!' She looked at me and said with her eyes, "I'm an Olympic champion!" We were on cloud nine.

"Linoy is a super-sportswoman, what she has done is so fantastic. After her bad start in the qualifiers, she proved what a great sportswoman she is, and even more than that."

"In the final I was calm, because I saw that Linoy was sharp and focused. She did excellent routines with a high difficulty level."

"And I'll tell you something else. We prepared for every scenario, for every fall – God forbid! – in one of the routines and how to get up immediately and continue. But when Linoy lost her ribbon in the last routine, and I saw how she immediately got up and continued her amazing routine, I understood just how phenomenal she is. It was such an amazing and moving sight. For a moment I worried that she would say to herself 'I lost the medal' and that it would impact her, but then I saw her spectacular execution after the error and I knew I had a champion."

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Ashram's journey to Olympic gold also received a significant boost from her sponsors – door market giant Rav Bariach, Bank Hapoalim, global hygiene products brand Always and sports colossal Adidas, which were joined by foods maker Talma, choosing Linoy as their rep for the brand "Cornflakes of Champions."

"All my sponsors always congratulated me, wished me success and asked me if I needed something. I was really lucky to get them," she says.

'I'm proud of my origins'

Between the training and the competitions, and especially with the relationship and the strict nutritional regime, Ashram doesn't have much time for hobbies or other pleasures in life, but she really tries.

Q: What is your guilty pleasure?

"Now I eat chocolate, but I still have to keep an eye on my weight and my figure. Now I can eat a few more things, but I'll still watch myself. I don't want to get fat or to swell up. At the moment I'm on a break and on holiday until I decide what's next. For the moment I'm taking a couple of weeks off, and then I'll speak with Ayelet. It's too early to speak about the Paris Olympics in 2024, I'm still experiencing the moment from Tokyo."

Q: Do you have time for a social life? To meet with friends? To watch television?

"Until now I was deep into training and the Olympics, but I would sometimes go out. During holidays, I travel in Israel with my boyfriend and with my friends or watch television shows. I really like Grey's Anatomy; I binged it and watched all 17 seasons."

Q: Not everyone knows that you have a boyfriend. Do people chat you up on social media?

"It happens, but I don't answer them."

Q: In the world of gymnastics, they call you the "Black Panther." How did you get that nickname?

"When I was 14, I took part in a competition, and one of the support staff of an Azerbaijani sportsman called me the 'Black Panther,' because everyone apart from me was white and Russian. He said that I was the first to arrive at the hall and the last to leave, and I really was there all day and night. When they told me about the nickname, I laughed."

Q: Does a nickname that reflects on the color of your skin bother you?

"Definitely not. I love the color of my skin. I'm proud of my origins, the place where I'm from and in who I'm. My father has roots in Yemen and my mother is of Greek origin, and both of them were born in Israel."

"I show my Israeliness and I love that I'm different from other gymnasts, that I have something different in me, something refreshing, different. My uniqueness also finds expression in the color of my skin and my look, because it's clear that I'm not Russian, and I think that it proves even more that, despite not being Russian, I'm succeeding in making achievements. Both in Israel and abroad I haven't encountered racism, only sympathy.

"I love my nickname and see a black panther as a strong and warlike animal, an animal who doesn't give up, who is always found above everyone and, if needed, can also devour."

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Qualifying for the Olympic Games is every athlete's dream. For Marhu and Selam Teferi achieving this dream is twice as special, as both qualified to represent Israel at the upcoming Tokyo Games. Marhu is a marathon runner and Selam runs track. 

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"Even in our wildest dreams, we didn't think this would be possible," said Selam, and Marhu added: "When she qualified for the 5,000-meter (3 miles) run, two years ago in Belgium, I called her and we both screamed 'Yes! We are going to the Olympics together!' We were ecstatic."

Before flying to Tokyo, the couple will spend a month in Italy training. 

"We are representing Israel, and it is a dream," Marhu said. "I participated in the Rio Olympics in 2016, but there is no comparison because this time my wife will be with me. And even though we will stay at two different Olympic Villages, just knowing that both of us are there is incredible for us. We will speak on the phone all the time and encourage each other."

Both Marhu and Selam were born in Ethiopia. Marhu made aliyah to Israel with his family at the age of 14, whereas Selam became an Israeli citizen in 2018. 

"I'm so excited," Salem said. "This will be my first Olympics, and it is so special that my husband will be there with me."

Before their interview began, the couple had both finished their training that starts at 6:30 a.m.

"Every day, we wake up at 5:30," Marhu said. "We do a morning workout, then we rest, take a nap in the afternoon, and then do another workout in the evening. I run 200 kilometers [124 miles] a week, more than 30 kilometers [19 miles] per day. It is difficult and tiring, but there's no other choice."

Selam runs about 170 kilometers [105 miles] every week. 

"We return home at about 8 p.m. after we are done with our workouts, and we are exhausted," she described.

Marhu was born in Dangla in northwest Ethiopia. His father used to work at the Ethiopian Education Ministry, and his mother passed away in 2000, when he was just eight years old. It is then that Marhu's father decided the family would immigrate to Israel. 

"We came to Israel in 2006. Three of my older brothers stayed in Ethiopia. I was only 14. Upon arriving, I used to go to an integration center, where I studied Hebrew. Two years later, I moved to a boy's school, where my older brother was studying, and he suggested I join him."

At this age, Marhu was not into running yet. He discovered his talent for running by accident. 

"There was a athletics competition between schools," he recalled. "I was at the new school for half a year already, and the team was missing one member to complete the required six. 

"And they saw me, a skinny Ethiopian, and they assumed I was good at running. Everything thought that. My friends asked me to join the team. I told them, 'No way.' I had never done sports before, I didn't even have running shoes or workout clothes. How could I have competed?" 

In the end, Marhu's friends convinced him.

"I arrived at the competition wearing shorts and my All Stars. It was a 5,000-meter (3 miles) run. No preparation. Just natural talent. I finished eight among all the participants."

Marhu's achievement did not go unnoticed, and Israeli athlete and coach Rafi Vishnitzer immediately approached him. 

"He pulled me over to the side and told me, 'You are a good runner. If this is how you perform without training, you have enormous potential.' I will never forget that moment, he immediately brought me a pair of Adidas running shoes and a red running shirt. I was very touched."

Back then, Gal Levi, now the head of Israel's Athletics Organization, was a counselor at Marhu's school and created a joint running team between the school's students and the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team. 

"Marhu has the best personality," Levi said. "He is humble, focused on the goal and incredibly persistent. He loves to learn while moving, and he thinks critically."

Marhu began with running track.

"I enjoyed running very much," he said. "But it was also important for me to not neglect my studies. I got excellent grades in Biology, Mathematics, and English. I was pleased that I succeeded in juggling both my studies and running."

A year later, Marhu was already representing Israel at a youth championship in Poland.

"I was 17 years old. I ran 8,000 meters (5 miles), but I did not do very well. And yet, I was excited to represent my country; I was so proud. It gave me the motivation to continue running. I also saw legendary Ethiopian and Kenyan runners, and I knew that if I kept working hard, one day I might become as great as they are." 

In 2012, Israeli athlete Dan Salpeter became Marhu's coach. 

"Dan understood that to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games, the 5,000 and 10,00-meter (3 and 6 miles) runs would be much easier for me than the marathon, and therefore he made me focus on that. It was a huge change for me. I was even worried in the beginning, but he convinced me that that was the right thing to do.

"Because I grew up in Ethiopia, which is geographically higher, I have good cardiovascular endurance." 

Marhu trained for three years before he ran his first marathon in Berlin in 2015. 

"That was my very first marathon, and I finished it in 2:19:23. When I run a marathon, I try to stay focused on the goal. Breaking a record, or qualifying for the Olympics, things like that. 

"Sometimes it gets much harder to focus, I begin to think about the fact that I have very little energy left, and how I will finish the race. I try to get rid of them fast. Once you hit 30 kilometers (20 miles), that's when it gets really tough. The body has no fuel, and it is incredibly challenging to finish the run with the very little energy you have left."

It happened to Marhu once that he could not finish a marathon.

"It was at the World Championship in London in 2017. After the 30-kilometer (20 miles) mark, I got dizzy and did not know where I was. I had to stop."

In other marathons, however, Marhu did an outstanding job. In 2020, just before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, he set a new Israeli record at the Seville Marathon in Spain, which he finished in 2:07:20, not that far behind the world record set by Kenyan long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge (2:01:39). 

Mahru and Selam met in 2012 in Ethiopia. 

"Because of the altitude, I train in Ethiopia, Kenya and Italy. I remember I joined a training team in Addis Abeba. We were 100 runners and Selam immediately caught my eye. 

"And Mahru caught my attention," Selam said. "We began talking and his personality impressed me a lot."

Selam was born in Addis Ababa and has five siblings. 

"I didn't run until I was 15," she says. "I loved running in the mountains, but only for leisure. My school figured out that I was a good runner and asked me to participate in a national project for runners.  

Mahru: "The apartment that the runners were staying at was right next to Selam's home. We connected immediately and took a taxi every morning together for the training. This is how we had quality time to speak and get to know each other better. In the evenings, I would invite Selam over for dinner with our team. A few weeks later, I asked her to be my girlfriend." 

"I was into Mahru as well," Selam said. "We became a couple. I was 17 back then and Mahru was 19."

A few months later, Mahru had to go back to Israel and Selam remained in Ethiopia. 

"I missed him very much," she said. "It was difficult. We spoke on the phone, but it's not the same as being together. I wasn't thinking of moving to Israel yet, because my entire family was in Ethiopia, and the two of us weren't married." 

"It truly was difficult," Mahru added. "I wanted to continue my career, but being apart from Selam made me miss her very much. I used to go to Ethiopia once every few months, and each time I left again, it was very sad." 

"But despite all the challenges and the distance," Salem said, "We stayed together."

In the meantime, Mahru continued his career as an athlete. In 2015, he finished in first place in the marathon of the Israeli championship. A year later, at a marathon in Holland, he qualified for the Rio Olympics, in which he finished 73rd, having completed the run in 2:21:06. 

"It was a good result, and from there, it only got better," Mahru said. Selam watched his performance on television in Ethiopia. 

A few months after the Rio Olympic Games, Mahru decided to propose. 

"One day, he called me from Israel and simply asked me to marry him," Selam said. She accepted the proposal, and three weeks later, Mahru arrived in Ethiopia. The two wed on January 12th, 2017. 

"We did not have a wedding celebration. We went to the municipality and the Interior Ministry," Selam continued. "We will have a big celebration sometime in the future." 

After becoming a married couple, Selam decided to make aliyah. 

"I wanted to come to Israel very much, within three months I was already here. It was wonderful to be finally living with Mahru. I integrated well here and everyone was so nice." 

Selam began to train at Maccabi Tel Aviv, the same place as Mahru. 

"Only in Israel did I begin to train seriously, as a professional," she said. 

Two years ago in Britain, Selam qualified for the 5,000-meter (3 miles) run at the Tokyo Olympics, and three weeks before her interview, in Belgium, she also qualified for the 10,000-meter (6 miles) run. 

Selam currently holds the Israeli record for the 1,500-meter (1 mile) run (04:11:37). 

"When Selam was in Britain, I was training in Ethiopia, and I saw her live on television. I was certain she would qualify," Mahru said. 

Selam, who is not Jewish, received her Israeli citizenship two years ago, and that is how she can now represent the Jewish state at the Olympics. 

"Many good people and organizations helped me receive my citizenship and helped me integrate here. And I am grateful to them all. Having citizenship helps me train with peace of mind and focus. 

The couple purchased an apartment in Kiryat Ata, next to the port city of Haifa. 

"It is such a pleasure to have an apartment of our own, even though we do not spend a lot of time there because of our training."

After their lengthy workouts, Mahru and Selam like to watch television.

"It helps me with my Hebrew," Selam said. "We like to watch Israeli comedies, we also go to the movies to watch comedies. We love to laugh."

Mahru: "We also like to travel, and we always go on vacation in Israel. After the Olympics, we will finally have a month off, and we will travel to Jerusalem, Tiberias, and the north. When we have a break from training, we go for a run outside our house, and there are such beautiful places here. When there's a hill, we compete to see who runs up the fastest. Selam always wins, she is very fast. We are very happy here."

And yet, Mahru and Selam are concerned as to how Israeli police officers treat Ethiopians. 

"When a policeman sees an Ethiopian, he immediately thinks that he is violent and a criminal," Mahru said. "After the shooting of Solomon Tekah, we wanted to participate in protests, but were training abroad.

"We were stopped twice by traffic officers when we were on our way home from training. They immediately thought that we were drunk or that we had done something bad, and only after talking to us did they understand we had done nothing wrong. 

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"Three weeks ago, it got really bad. We were on our way home on a Saturday after training. It was 7 a.m. The police officers signaled that we should stop by the side of the road. They were convinced that we were coming back drunk from a party. For a whole hour, the police officer did not let us go and did not believe us, even though we showed her our IDs like she asked, and were wearing sports clothes and explained to her who we were. It was very degrading and infuriating. We are two Olympic runners, we follow the law, and we do not deserve to be treated like that."

I'll admit, "there are Ethiopian youngsters that are bored and therefore stir up trouble," Mahru continued. "In my opinion, the government needs to invest funds into these neighborhoods and create educational projects that would improve the situation. Perhaps a running program that would give these teenagers something to be proud of and busy with, and that would also help find more talented runners who would represent this country and make it proud." 

Mahru was contacted by one of the schools to share his life story with the younger generation. 

"I am not ready yet," he said. "I am shy. I think it's very important to share with young people how I coped and succeeded, and in the future, I hope I will overcome my shyness and will give such a lecture."

In the meantime, Mahru and Selam are focused on the task at hand. 

"We will do everything to do well at the Olympics," Mahru promised. 

The post Going the distance: Husband and wife in the running for Olympic golds appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

All of Dor's friends and family who watched the ceremony on a livestream knew how far Dor had come to fulfill his life's dream. Twenty years ago, he was born with cerebral palsy, which caused him issues with his legs and arms.

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Only when Dor started studying karate under Yisrael Siyali did his life begin to change. He gained strength, overcame his mobility difficulties, and enlisted in the IDF as a combat soldier. According to IDF figures, he is the first cerebral palsy sufferer to serve as a combat soldier.

"Yisrael believed in me," Dor says. "He taught me to walk correctly, to run in a straight line, to stand up straight. He worked hard. He changed my life. I joined the Armored Corps, and in spite of the tough periods, I proved I could overcome almost any physical difficulty."

Dor talks to Israel Hayom at his family's home in Rishon Lezion while he is enjoying a week's leave. Someone watching him move around the house can't tell he has cerebral palsy.

His mother, Sigal, says "We took him to treatments with neurologists and orthopedists. We had an amazing private doctor, and we did everything to help him progress as much as possible."

As a child, Dor did not entirely understand his condition. He couldn't play much at recess, because he would constantly fall.

"I was full of energy and just wanted to work it off, so it was really frustrating to fall down in the middle of a game. It wasn't nice," he says.

"From a young age, I realized I couldn't fall into a cycle of feeling bad and bad moods, because it would never end. I always got back on my feet, physically and emotionally. Luckily, the kids in my class never made fun of me. Sometimes I was embarrassed, but I got over it."

Dor says, "I wanted to move ahead, like everyone … For me, the worst thing was to be pitied or for people to go easy on me. I didn't go easy on myself."

When he was nine, Dor's doctors said he had gone as far as he could in terms of walking, running, and stability. Then Siyali, the karate instructor, came to the family's house and met Dor.

"He wasn't in good shape. When he stood or walked, his feet turned in. His knees were bent, his bottom stuck out. He wasn't standing straight. The bones in his leg weren't straight, and he didn't open his hands properly. He didn't use his fingers properly," Siyali says.

Siyali wasn't ready to accept the doctors' decree and started studying cerebral palsy.

"I studied Dor's functioning and racked my brain about what to do with him. I sat him down and said, 'I believe in you, and you believe in yourself.' I realized that with a lot of faith, consistency, and work, we could fix a lot in his brain. I decided to make him my life's work," Siyali says.

The two started to work together. At first, Siyali didn't even teach him karate. He focused on straightening Dor's feet and posture.

"I demanded a lot of him, and he met all the challenges. It's really hard for a person to change habits, but Dor did it like a champ."

Dor say, "Every week we'd take over the living room, and Yisrael just changed my entire posture. He helped me stand differently, and suddenly I started to walk and run in a straight line.

"After a few months of work, I felt that I was gaining confidence in my body. I was falling a lot less, and it strengthened me, physically and mentally. For me, Yisrael was an angel who appeared in my life and never stopped pushing me forward."

Three years after Yisrael started working with Dor, his son, Doron, was killed in a car accident in Tel Aviv.

"With all the grief and sadness, I knew I wouldn't stop treating Dor. I found comfort and healing in working with him, from giving something to someone else," Siyali says.

The two continued to work together until Dor started 12^th grade.

"I wasn't afraid to play soccer. I didn't fall down, and I was comfortable running. It was a huge change for me," Dor says.

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Dor also did well academically, completing the highest-level matriculation exams in physics, mathematics, computers, and English.

Although his military profile allowed him physically undemanding service in the IDF's Intelligence Corps or in one of the army's tech units, Dor wanted to serve in a combat role.

"I didn't want to sit in front of a computer all day. I wanted to challenge myself. I decided to do all I could to make it into a combat unit. I knew I wouldn't give up on that dream."

When the time arrived for his first enlistment interview, he came armed with his medical file and "a huge drive to show the doctor that I was fit for combat service."

He was assigned a medical profile of 72, which made him eligible for combat service. The doctor told him he was unusually high-functioning.

Dor enlisted at the end of July 2018 and was sent to basic training in the Armored Corps. "It was clear it was going to be tough. Stressful. Exciting. All of a sudden I signed off on a weapon, and I was a member of the legendary 7^th Armored Brigade. All I wanted and dreamed of and hoped would happen, was happening."

"Basic training lasted four months, and on the first trek, which was five kilometers [three miles], I felt good. But the more time went by, the harder it was, mostly physically. My legs weren't used to the round-the-clock effort. They would make us run from place to place, and it was hard. I fell down a lot. It frustrated me every time, and it was embarrassing, but I always got up and continued. Lucky for me, the soldiers with me were great."

"My platoon commander in basic training knew about my problem, but I didn't explain it to the other soldiers. I asked them not to go easy on me. I said I wanted to be exactly like everyone else," he says.

After three months, Dor gathered his comrades and told them his full story. "They listened and responded warmly. None of them made fun of me, the opposite."

There were difficult moments. At one point, Dor called his parents and told them he didn't know what he was doing.

His father, Yuval, says, "We know what kind of character this kid has. But when he enlisted, it was clear that this was something else entirely. We were concerned. We waited for him to call, to let us know that everything was all right."

At the end of basic training, Dor and his comrades completed a 24-kilometer (15 mile) march from Jerusalem to Latrun, where they marked the completion of the first stage of their service.

Dor was named the outstanding recruit of his basic training course. His platoon commander handed Dor his own beret as a badge of respect.

Dor's parents and younger brothers, as well as Yisrael Siyali, were all present.

"I was so proud of the kid, the outstanding soldier who didn't go easy on himself for a single second," the teacher says.

Dor progressed to specialized training in the Armored Corps. "That was easier, because we dealt more with tanks and less with running and marching."

When he was through with specialized training, Dor was assigned to the 75^th Armored Battalion, where he serves as a gunner on a Merkava tank.

"I was really happy to join the company, and I like it there. We trained in the Golan Heights, and then we were deployed near Mount Hermon. I'm with good friends, and I feel like I've improved."

"The difficulties I had in basic training and specialized training only moved me forward. It proved more than anything that I can handle physical challenges and difficulties. Military service has been really empowering for me."

At the beginning of May, the head of the Northern Command named Dor an outstanding soldier. His parents drove north for the ceremony, even though they knew they would not be allowed to attend because of coronavirus restrictions.

Dor is slated to be discharged from the military next year. For now, he isn't thinking of making the army his career.

"I'm thinking about traveling. Maybe I'll go to Australia, if the skies are open by then.  Then I'll study at university," he says.

The post From partial paralysis to a Merkava tank appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Muki, the current European champion, won the men's under-81 kilogram category in this year's Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, just as Israeli  Tal Flicker did at the same event in 2017.

But unlike last year, when Israel's competitors appeared under the International Judo Federation flag rather their own, this year the Israeli competitors appeared with the Israeli flag stitched to their uniforms.

After downing his Belgian rival to win the gold medal, Muki pointed proudly to the Israeli flag on his judo uniform.

And the Israeli anthem, "Hatikvah," was played for Muki's gold win – the first ever sounding of the Israeli anthem in the Arab country.

Regev stood next to the podium as the anthem played and wept visibly while singing along. Israeli television channels broke into their regular broadcasts to show the medal ceremony live.

"We made history," Regev tweeted afterward.

Regev credited the IJF's president, Austria's Marius Vizer, for influencing the organizers to change their policy on Israeli symbols.

"I cried as the anthem was played. Marius Vizer stood next to me and also shed a tear. It was so moving to see that he was touched by our ability to express our emotions," Regev told Army Radio in a phone interview.

And Muki said, "That moment of standing on the podium and hearing 'Hatikvah,' our anthem on Abu Dhabi soil for the first time in history, was a really exciting movement.

"We are a team and a nation of warriors, and we have made it here and we are fighting for our country. This is our nature, and today, it happened for me and I am happy. Now we are on the map in Abu Dhabi. We are on the map everywhere in the world.

"This win is not just for me, it is for the country. Events like this bring everyone together, and I am so happy to make the people happy."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Muki on his win in a phone call on Sunday, telling him, "We have two great things here: an incredible gold [medal] and a lot of hope for Israeli judo. We all heard our anthem, and we were all moved. It's not just your personal achievement and the Jewish achievement of Israeli sport, but also the fact that they played the anthem in Abu Dhabi."

On Sunday, Israeli athletes Gili Cohen, Baruch Shmailov and Timna Nelson Levy all won bronze medals in their respective weight classes at the event.

On Monday, Regev posted a video to social media of another first for Israel: a visit she paid to Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

"I am here, in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Mosque. … It is the first time that an Israel cabinet minister has visited here," she said in the video.

The video showed her standing inside the mosque, signing its guestbook and being escorted by local officials.

Israel Judo Association Chairman Moshe Ponte told Israel Hayom: "We made history, but we are already thinking about what comes next."

He said it is his great hope that an athlete from an Arab country will compete in the Grand Prix judo competition to be held in Tel Aviv in 2020.

"We are realistic and know it will be hard, but it would send a message of peace and brotherhood," he said.

This year's event was a significant change from last year, when UAE organizers singled Israel out with a ban on displaying its flag or playing its anthem during the tournament.

The International Judo Federation temporarily suspended the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam from its schedule, but it was reinstated in September after the organizers promised equal treatment for Israeli athletes.

Israeli television broadcasts said the change came amid a flurry of outreach to Persian Gulf states. An Israeli gymnastics team is currently at an event in Qatar.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to Oman, the first time an Israeli leader has visited the sultanate in 22 years. Communications Minister Ayoob Kara is due at a conference in Abu Dhabi next week.

On Sunday, Transportation Minister Israel Katz's office said he would travel to Oman next week for an international transportation conference. Katz, who is also Israel's intelligence minister, is to present a plan to build a rail link between the Gulf states and Israel.

Israel and the Gulf Arab countries have shared concerns over Iran's activities across the region, including its nuclear program and its involvement in the civil wars in Syria and Yemen.

The post In first, Israeli anthem plays in UAE after Israeli judoka wins gold appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.