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Israeli Judoka and Olympic Medalist Peter Paltchik Announces Retirement
Paris 2024 Olympics – Judo – Men -100 kg Victory Ceremony – Champ-de-Mars Arena, Paris, France – August 01, 2024. Bronze medallist Peter Paltchik of Israel celebrates on the podium. Photo: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Ukrainian-born Israeli judoka and Olympic medalist Peter Paltchik announced his retirement in an online video and emotional press conference on Monday.
Paltchik, 33, shared a video on social media of him sitting across from his head coach, Oren Smadga, as he announced the shocking news. The former athlete said he has no regrets about his career, reflected on his journey as an athlete, and teared up while thanking Smadga for his support over the years and talking about their close connection.
Paltchik is Israel’s most decorated judoka, winning bronze medals at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020 and Paris in 2024. He also took home a bronze medal in the International Judo Federation’s 2021 World Judo Masters and won gold in the European Judo Championships’ under-100 kg division in Prague in November 2020. He additionally has gold medals from the 2020 Paris Grand Slam, 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, 2020 European Judo Championships, and four Grand Prix tournaments.
After Monday’s announcement, the Olympic Committee of Israel praised Paltchik and wished him good luck in all his future endeavors. “Peter proved that a long path of work, discipline, faith, and personal depth can turn a dream into reality,” the committee said in a released statement. “He set an example for an entire generation of athletes and athletes and provided moments that will not be forgotten. Peter, thank you for the way, for the heart, for the values, and for the energy you brought to every scene.”
In September 2024, Paltchik launched the Paltchik Foundation to support talented young athletes. He committed to allocating 3 percent of his business revenues to the foundation, which has all volunteer staff members to ensure that every donation goes directly to helping athletes in need. Paltchik is currently pursing a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing communications.
In May, Smadga resigned as the head coach of Israel’s national judo team. A former judoka himself, Smadga was the first Israeli man to win an Olympic medal when he won bronze at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and he has served as the coach of the men’s team since 2010. Smadga’s 25-year-old son was killed in combat in June 2024 while fighting with the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.