Israel Judo Association

The Israel Judo Association is the primary nonprofit body responsible for governing competitive judo in Israel.[2] Despite holding that formal regulatory role, most judokas in Israel are not affiliated with it.[2] The association operates within a national sports-governance environment overseen by the Sports Authority of the Ministry of Science, Culture, and Sport, which coordinates the activities of sports federations and assists in developing sports programs.[1]

By 1970, judo was among the sports in Israel administered by smaller specialized associations rather than the Israel Sports Federation, which at the time covered approximately 15,000 of the more than 40,000 athletes participating in organized competitive athletics across the country.[7] In recent decades, the association has worked with the International Judo Federation on World Judo Tour events and with the European Judo Union on hosting the European Championships.[8][9]

The association's modern history was shaped by a severe institutional crisis culminating in December 2010, when Tel Aviv District Court judge Eitan Orenstein ordered its liquidation.[10] The decision followed years of complaints concerning alleged mismanagement and internal disputes.[10][3] Complaints to the Registrar of Associations alleged mistreatment of athletes, conflicts of interest in the association's management, activity contrary to its bylaws, and selective enforcement of disciplinary rules.[10] The month before the liquidation order, the Corporate Authority in the Ministry of Justice had appealed to the court after revoking government funding because of the association's condition.[11]

The organizational dispute had roots in Edi Koaz's founding of the Judokan judo club in 1993 and his becoming association chairman in 1996.[3] Complaints alleged that some athletes were disadvantaged and others favored on non-professional grounds, particularly in relation to Judokan, alongside claims of improper management, accumulated debts, and appointments of associates.[3] A court found a serious conflict of interest involving Koaz. Koaz rejected allegations of favoritism and argued that later success could not be credited solely to changing the leadership.[3]

Following two failed recovery plans, the reconstruction was led by court-appointed liquidator and lawyer Nimrod Teper, with Yael Arad handling the professional side and Michael Pinder serving as CEO.[3] Moshe Ponte was elected chairman and Oren Smadja was appointed national-team coach.[3] Israeli judokas continued competing during the crisis.[11]

Ponte later recalled joining the association at the beginning of 2012, when it was at the height of its collapse.[12] His tenure was credited with rehabilitating judo's image, stabilizing the association financially, and improving it professionally, including through the promotion of Oren Smadja and Shany Hershko as national coaches.[12] In a 2016 election, Ponte won another four-year term with 87 percent of the 743 votes cast by 59 member clubs, which represented 775 total votes. The result followed four years of strong Israeli judo results, including Olympic, world, and European championship medals and growth in the number of judokas.[13]

The association's recovery from the 2010 liquidation required years of financial rehabilitation. Its 2012 budget stood at approximately NIS 4.5 million, including roughly NIS 2.2 million from the TOTO sports lottery and just over NIS 1 million from the Sports Ministry and the Olympic Committee of Israel (OCI).[11] At the same time, the association was repaying approximately NIS 470,000 annually in debts tied to the former association's bankruptcy.[11]

Chairman Ponte said the OCI had not provided money in the year following the Olympics and argued the association needed greater support to prepare for the next Games; the OCI disputed these claims, stating it owed the association nothing and that it supported judo through professional programs, medical care, and athlete stipends.[11] By 2016, the association's annual turnover had reached NIS 12.3 million—approximately double its 2012 figure—making it the third-largest Israeli sports association by money handled, behind football and basketball.[14] That year it recorded a deficit of around NIS 500,000, similar to the preceding year; the Registrar of Associations reviewed a staff loan and a break-in at the offices before granting the association a certificate of proper management.[14]

Ponte has publicly emphasized ongoing financial needs, including stable funding, sponsors for athletes outside the top level, and a permanent judo facility with training and athlete-support infrastructure.[12] Financial pressures also affected athletes directly: a 2016 report noted that families often bore substantial costs during youth development and that not all competitors received outstanding-athlete status during military service.[15]

The association has established Israel as a regular host of high-level international judo competitions. In October 2018, chairman Ponte joined Israeli Sport and Culture Minister Miri Regev and IJF president Marius Vizer in announcing agreements for Israel to host a World Judo Tour stage in January 2019 and another event before the 2024 Olympics.[8] The announcement came shortly after Sagi Muki's Abu Dhabi Grand Slam gold medal win, at which Israel's national anthem was played and its flag displayed.[8]

In 2017, the European Judo Union confirmed Israel would host the European Championships the following year, subject to NIS 6 million in government guarantees; Ponte had held discussions with European Judo Union president Sergey Soloveychik and credited the association's U23 European Championships with being conducted at a high level.[9] In 2019, a Grand Prix was held in Israel, at which the World Jewish Congress recognized IJF president Vizer for his efforts against discrimination toward Israeli athletes.[5]

In 2022, the association was selected to host the Judo World Masters in Jerusalem on December 19–21, with 500 leading judokas expected.[16] The Masters was described as the third-largest and third-most important event in judo after the Olympics and World Championships, and Israel also hosted two additional international tournaments that year alongside the Tel Aviv Grand Slam.[16] Ponte cited the association's record of successive hosting achievements, including the U23 and senior European Championships, a Grand Prix, and two years of Grand Slams.[16]

Israeli judo's Olympic medal tradition began at the Barcelona 1992 Games, where Yael Arad won silver and Oren Smadja won bronze.[15] By 2016, five of Israel's nine Olympic medals across all sports had been won in judo.[15]

Under Ponte's chairmanship, the association oversaw a further period of Olympic achievement. Two judo medals were won at Rio 2016, Israel's first in the sport since 2004.[15] One medal was won at the Tokyo Olympics.[4] The Paris 2024 Games produced the association's best Olympic result: silver medals for Inbar Lanir and Raz Hershko, and a bronze for Peter Paltchik—three of Israel's six total medals at those Games and a record medal total in Olympic judo.[4] Ponte called Paris the association's best Olympics.[4]

One of the association's most prominent international roles has been confronting discrimination against Israeli athletes at competitions held in countries that do not maintain normal relations with Israel. Earlier episodes on Arab soil saw Israeli athletes barred from competing under their national flag, a pattern the association and its allies worked to reverse.[6]

In October 2017, organizers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam announced that Israeli participants would not be permitted to wear the Israeli flag on their uniforms or have Israel's national anthem played if they won.[17] The Israel Judo Federation announced it would compete despite the prohibition.[17] The World Jewish Congress urged the IJF to intervene, with WJC CEO Robert Singer calling for the Israeli team to have "every right to display its national flag and emblem, and sound its national anthem if victorious."[17] Following that appeal, IJF president Marius Vizer wrote to the UAE Judo Federation demanding that all delegations—"including the Israeli delegation, shall be treated absolutely equally in all aspects, without any exception."[18] WJC CEO Singer subsequently spoke with association president Ponte about the developments, and they agreed to work together on future challenges.[18]

By 2018, Israeli athletes competed openly under the Israeli flag at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam.[6] The IJF had warned that competitions would be canceled if Israeli flags were not permitted, and Sagi Muki went on to win gold at Abu Dhabi with the Israeli flag displayed and Israel's anthem played.[8][6] At a 2019 International Judo Grand Prix in Israel, WJC representative Sonia Gomes de Mesquita presented Vizer with a certificate recognizing his anti-discrimination work, describing Vizer and Ponte as being at the forefront of efforts to remove hate and intolerance from sport.[5]

A separate episode of alleged political interference arose at the 2019 Tokyo World Judo Championships. Association chairman Ponte alleged that Iranian intelligence officials coerced Iranian judoka Saied Mollaei into losing his semifinal match to avoid facing an Israeli opponent in the final, with Iranian officials reportedly appearing at Mollaei's home and at the arena to intimidate him and his family.[19] These are reported allegations attributed to Ponte and have not been independently established. In February 2021, Mollaei competed in a tournament in Tel Aviv and received a warm welcome from Israel's judo federation.[20]

Beyond the 2010 liquidation crisis, the association has faced ongoing internal tensions. The dispute over the association's 2013 finances—with chairman Ponte claiming the OCI had provided no money since the Olympics and the OCI countering that it owed nothing and supported judo through in-kind programs—illustrated recurring friction between the association and the broader Israeli sports funding structure.[11]

The association's 2018 Globes profile noted that the Registrar of Associations had reviewed a staff loan and a break-in at its offices.[14] In May 2025, men's national team head coach Oren Smadja resigned after 15 years in the role, citing what he described as persistent disrespect and mistreatment by senior association officials.[21] The association received his resignation with sadness, disputed inaccuracies in his statements, and described him as a central figure in Israeli judo.[21] The resignation followed the men's team's poor showing at the European Championships and a run of four consecutive years without a medal.[21]