Israel’s First Olympic Appearance
(1952)
Israel first sent an Olympic team to the 1952 summer games in Helsinki. Israel failed to medal, which, though not surprising, caused an uproar in the Israeli media prompting Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to call for an inquiry into the team’s performance. The committee concluded the delegation’s performance had been satisfactory, because it was Israel’s first Olympics and that only 30 or the 70 delegations that competed won medals. The committee recommended more government investment in sports education in Israel, including the training of more athletic instructors at the newly-founded Wingate Institute, Israel’s sports college.
Israel was barred from competing in the 1948 London games because the British Foreign Office said that “as the state of Palestine does not exist anymore, you have no right to participate.” The Israeli Olympic Commission tried to convince the Israeli Foreign Ministry to intervene, but Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett believed that the time was not right for a diplomatic effort on this matter.
Source: Israel State Archives
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