Israel given silent treatment at Junior Jiu Jitsu World Championships

Although the Israeli team was received warmly by their hosts, the event was marred by the fact that Israel was forced to compete as the Jiu Jitsu International Federation team.

So when Meshi Rozenfeld won a gold medal in the women’s junior under-55kg event and Nimrod Ryder took first place in the men’s junior under-77kg event, there was no Israeli flag flown and no anthem played.

Having beaten opponents from Kazakhstan, Portugal and Colombia, Rozenfeld said: “As I stood on the podium, I hummed the Hatikvah to myself. It didn’t spoil the feeling of winning a gold medal but still there was sense that something was missing.”