Connect with us

RSS

Israeli Gold Medalist to Sell Medal He Won on Oct. 7 to Help Victims of Hamas Terror

Olympic gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat of Israel celebrates on the podium with his medal, Ariake Gymnastics Centre; Tokyo, Japan; August 1, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Israel’s 2020 Olympic gold medalist in gymastics announced on Monday that he will be selling a world championship medal that he earned on October 7, the day of Hamas’ onslaught against Israel.

The 26-year-old gymnast, who was Israel’s second gold medalist when he took home the top prize in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Floor Exercise, said that all proceeds from the sale will go towards benefiting communities in the Gaza periphery that have been impacted by the Israel-Hamas war.

“I part with the medal without pain but with a lot of emotion,” Dolgopyat, who was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel at the age of 12, said. “It is a precious medal. A medal that was all my dreams, a medal that is the peak of my ambitions after the Olympic medal. But today I know that there is something even more important than that. I know that above all, Israeli society is important. I won’t lie, it’s not easy for me, but I feel that through the auction of the medal, I will be able to truly give back to the country that has given me so much.”

The October 7 world championship event held in Belgium was Dolgopyat’s third go at the competition. In the previous two contests he had earned silver.

“It could have been the happiest day for me and for the country, but it wasn’t,” Dolgopyat said about his victory in October.

The starting bid for the medal is $100,000 and will be directed to the Shoresh Fund, which is an emergency assistance fund that is focusing on those impacting by Hamas’ mass terror attack, which took place on the day of Dolgopyat’s victory. On October 7, Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel, slaughtering more than 1,200 Israelis, mainly civilians, and taking captive more than 200 to the Gaza Strip.

To date, Shoresh has allocated more than 2 million NIS towards relief packages to evacuees, power generators to impacted communities, and food to the elderly.

The post Israeli Gold Medalist to Sell Medal He Won on Oct. 7 to Help Victims of Hamas Terror first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

RSS

Tourists Stranded in Israel as Sirens Sound, Missiles Fly, Planes Grounded

FILE PHOTO: A worker at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel sits at the arrivals terminal as all flights from and to the airport are indicated cancel, following an Israeli attack on Iran. June 13, 2025 Photo: REUTERS/Tomer Appelbaum

Woken by air raid sirens, hurrying to bomb shelters, scouring travel sites for escape routes — thousands of tourists in Israel have found their holiday plans upended by the country’s conflict with Iran.

Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran in the early hours of Friday, shutting down the national airspace and telling people to remain where they were as the arch Middle East foes traded deadly blows.

The violence has left around 40,000 tourists blocked in Israel, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Airlines are cancelling flights until further notice, leaving travelers to decide whether to wait it out or seek costly detours through neighboring countries.

Justin Joyner, from California, is on holiday in Jerusalem with his father John, who lives in Nevada, and his son. They had expected some possible disruption, with Israel locked in a months-long conflict against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

But, like most locals, they did not foresee a whole new war.

“We didn’t expect Israel to attack Iran. That is a completely different level of escalation,” Joyner said from his hotel in East Jerusalem, which, for the past two nights, has seen Iranian ballistic missiles flash overhead like a rain of meteorites.

“It’s unsettling to feel the shockwaves of intercepted missiles above you, and to take your family down to a bomb shelter. That’s just something we don’t think about in America,” he said.

Dr. Greer Glazer, who lives in Cleveland and was in Jerusalem for a nursing training program, faces a race down 10 flights of stairs in her hotel to reach the shelter when sirens sound — as they have done regularly since Friday night.

“I feel safe,” she said, “but waking from a dead sleep and running to the safe room, that’s been the hardest. My family is scared to death … They think it’s 24/7 destruction, but it’s not like that.”

THE JORDAN ROUTE

Glazer had been due to return home on June 29, but is looking to bring forward her departure. The easiest exit route is via land crossings into neighboring Jordan and then a flight out of Amman airport which has been operating in daylight hours.

Israeli media reported that the transgender US influencer Caitlyn Jenner, who only flew into Israel on Thursday for Tel Aviv’s since-canceled Gay Pride Parade, had left through Jordan.

Hours earlier, she had been photographed drinking a glass of red wine in a bomb shelter. “What an incredible way it has been to celebrate Shabbat,” she wrote on X.

Not everyone is rushing to leave.

Karen Tuhrim is visiting from London to see her daughter, who lives in Tel Aviv. “Within two days of being here, Israel attacked Iran. So now I’m stuck,” she said.

Unlike Jerusalem, Tel Aviv has taken direct hits from the Iranian missiles and Tuhrim has had to dip in and out of her hotel’s shelter. But she said she felt safe and was happy to be near her daughter.

“For me, personally, at the moment, I feel better being here than in London, watching it all on the news, knowing my daughter is here. So, for now, we’re good.”

Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has set up a round-the-clock virtual help desk in English and Hebrew for stranded travelers.

But for anyone stuck here, all the museums are closed until further notice, entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem is barred to non-residents and many shops remain shuttered.

“The streets and shops are empty,” said Jerusalem resident Anwar Abu Lafi, who saw no quick end to the gloom.

“People are yearning for a break, to find something good in this existing darkness. We are deluding ourselves into thinking that the future will be better,” he said.

The post Tourists Stranded in Israel as Sirens Sound, Missiles Fly, Planes Grounded first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters

Illustrative: A Magen David Adom ambulance. Photo: David King via Wikimedia Commons.

i24 NewsIn the early hours of Sunday morning, the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel was struck by an Iranian missile, tragically claiming the lives of four women from the same family, including a mother and her two daughters, aged 13 and 20.

The missile caused severe damage, nearly collapsing the three- to four-story building where they lived.

Emergency services responded quickly, evacuating 14 injured individuals and providing care for eight others suffering from shock at Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

Despite the devastation, the community and first responders showed remarkable resilience and solidarity, working tirelessly to assist those affected.

Eli Bin, director general of Magen David Adom, described the scene as one of severe destruction but praised the swift and professional response of rescue teams. Paramedic Adnan Abu Rumi, one of the first on site, emphasized the dedication of emergency personnel in managing the crisis.

Residents like Hamudi, who was injured but survived, shared heartfelt accounts of the sudden impact, underscoring the strength of families and neighbors coming together in difficult times.

The post 4 Killed by Missile in Arab Town of Tamra, Including a Mother and Her Two Daughters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Trump Sees Peace Between Iran and Israel Soon, Eyes Putin Role

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Shemetov

Despite evidence that the conflict between Israel and Iran is escalating, US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russia’s Vladimir Putin could help.

In a social media post, Trump said there were many unspecified meetings about the issue happening and encouraged the two countries to make a deal. And in an interview with ABC News, he said he was open to Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine and who has resisted Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire with Kyiv, serving as a mediator.

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores.

“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. “We will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran! Many calls and meetings now taking place.”

Trump did not offer any details about the meetings or evidence of progress toward peace. His assertion contradicted comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Saturday that Israel’s campaign against Iran would intensify.

A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Trump and the White House were working to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.

Trump told ABC News that Iran wanted to make a deal and indicated something like the Israel strikes would accelerate that. “Something like this had to happen because I think even from both sides, but something like this had to happen. They want to talk, and they will be talking,” Trump said, according to ABC reporter Rachel Scott. “May have forced a deal to go quicker, actually.”

The United States has engaged in talks with Iran about its nuclear program and Trump has told reporters previously that the talks were going well. But another round of discussions scheduled for Sunday in Oman was canceled after the Israeli and Iranian strikes.

Trump said he and Putin had discussed the situation in the Middle East on Saturday in a call that focused more on that conflict than the Russian war in Ukraine.

“He is ready. He called me about it,” Trump said about Putin serving as a mediator, according to Scott. “We had a long talk about it. We talked about this more than his situation. This is something I believe is going to get resolved.”

Trump, who portrays himself as a peacemaker and has drawn criticism from his political base for not being able to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict, cited other disputes that he took responsibility for solving, including between India and Pakistan, and lamented not receiving more praise for doing so.

“I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote on Truth Social.

The post Trump Sees Peace Between Iran and Israel Soon, Eyes Putin Role first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News