Israel men's national basketball team

The Israeli national team played in their first international competition at the 1952 Olympic Games. However, the team would quickly be ousted in the preliminary tournament, with an (0–2) record and loses to the Philippines, and Greece.[3]

European Cup, Moscow 1953. Zacharia Ofri (#4, Israel) tipping off the ball

Israel made their European Basketball Championship debut at EuroBasket 1953 in Moscow. In the preliminary round, the Israeli squad won their group by tie-breaker after being one of three teams to finish with a (3–1) record. They then advanced to the final round, managing to defeat perennial power Czechoslovakia, and getting revenge on Yugoslavia for their only preliminary round loss. Their record in the final round was (4–3), putting them in a 4-way tie for second place behind the undefeated Soviet Union. Israel eventually came out on the bottom of that tie-breaker, finishing in 5th place of the 17 teams.

Israel's overall record of seven wins and four losses included two wins by forfeit over Lebanon (in the preliminary round) and Egypt (in the final round), each of which had refused to play against Israel due to political reasons.[4]

Israel reached the World Cup for the first time in 1954. The national team would be placed in Group D in the preliminary round, where they would finish in a 3-way tie, after splitting their two games. They would ultimately secure a spot in the final round based on point difference. There Israel would be overwhelmed, as they dropped six of their seven matches to accumulate an (1–6) record, with their only win coming in a 48–45 overtime victory against France.[5] Israel would end their inaugural appearance at the tournament in 8th place.[6]

Israel appeared at the Asian Games for the first time in 1966. Being drawn into Group B in the preliminary round of the tournament, the national team throttled Iran in the first game 87–55. After that result, Israel would go on to finish out the rest of the round with an (4–1) record, to move on. In the semi-finals, Israel breezed passed Japan 57–34 to reach the title game. In the final, Israel capped their run through the competition by dismantling Thailand 90–42 to capture their first gold medal at the Asian Games.

Heading into the 1970 Asian Games, Israel looked to repeat their performance from 1966. Israel swept their preliminary phase opponents to make it to the final stage. Sitting at (3–0), Israel looked dominant in their first three wins, and appeared poised to become back-to-back Asian Games champions. After winning their first seven games of the final round, Israel needed one more win to finish with a flawless record, and take home the gold. However, South Korea prevented it all from happening, defeating Israel convincingly 81–67. The result landed the team into a second-place finish overall.

The 1974 Asian Games would be the final appearance for Israel at the tournament. The team looked to achieve the gold medal once more before departing. Israel easily made it through the first two rounds to an (3–0) record, setting up an clash in the semi-finals. There the team went up against the Philippines, and outlasted them in a high scoring affair 123–101, to reach the final. In the title game South Korea awaited Israel once again, who was determined to avenge their lost to them at the prior Asian Games in 1970. This time around Israel would come out as champions, winning a hard-fought tussle 92–85 to reclaim the gold medal one last time.

The EuroBasket 1979 was the 12th appearance for Israel at the European Basketball Championship. The team began their tournament journey with an opening phase defeat against France. Although the team would refocus, and win their next two matches against Poland, and Yugoslavia. The (2–1) record the team achieved was enough to advance to the final stage of the competition. There the team won three out of their five games, two finish in second place in the group, only behind the Soviet Union. This result gave Israel their first medal finish at the tournament.[7]

Israel qualified for their second World Cup appearance in 1986.[8] The national team was drawn into Group B in the preliminary phase. Their first game of the tournament was an 79–84 win against Uruguay.[9] Israel would go on to attain second place in group play with an (3–2) record, to move on to the next round. However, Israel was not as successful in this phase, as they would finish up with a losing record (2–3) to be relegated to the classification round. There they went (1–1) to come in 7th place at the competition overall.[10]

Israel won the rights to be one of four co-hosts for EuroBasket 2017.[11] With Israel hosting Group B in Tel Aviv, the team went up against Italy in their first game, and were thoroughly dominated in an 69–48 defeat. Heading into their second game of the tournament, Israel had Lithuania standing in their way. Israel ran out to an early first period lead, but the team could not maintain the momentum, as they fell to (0–2) and desperately needing a win in their next game. Germany was the opponent for the national team in their third match of group play, and they were victorious in a remarkable 80–82 win.[12] Sitting with an (1–2) record, Israel were intent to even it all up with their game against Georgia. However, even behind the strong performance from Gal Mekel, and his 23 points were not enough. Israel would lose a heartbreaker in overtime 91–104.[13] Their last game of group play, and positions nearly determined, Israel would fall once more. This time at the hands of Ukraine, 88–64, to end the tournament with an (1–4) record.[14]

During the process for Israel to reach the 2019 World Cup, the team went through World Cup qualifiers, where they were drawn into Group H for the first round of qualifiers. Israel's first game was a comfortable 88–68 win at home against Estonia. Heading to play Greece on the road in their next game, the team looked to move to (2–0). Although Greece would have none of it, as they dominated Israel 82–61, dropping the team to a record of (1–1). Israel would eventually get things on track, as they finished the rest of group play at (3–3), enough to advance to the second and final round of qualifying.

For the second round of World Cup qualifying, Israel was placed into Group L. Their first two matches of group play were tough loses against Georgia, and Germany. Although they eventually picked up an impressive win in their third game at home versus Serbia.[15] Unfortunately, the national team would only earn one more victory during the rest of the qualifiers, which saw their hopes at (5–7) and clinching qualification vanish.[16]

Roster for the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers matches on 24 and 27 February 2023 against Finland and Slovenia.[17]

Israel men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. PG 5 Beni Gil 24 – (1998-10-27)27 October 1998 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Hapoel Tel Aviv F/C 6 Itay Segev 27 – (1995-06-15)15 June 1995 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Hapoel Jerusalem G 7 Itay Moskovits 22 – (2000-03-31)31 March 2000 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Hapoel Galil Elyon PG 10 Bar Timor 30 – (1992-03-02)2 March 1992 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Hapoel Tel Aviv G/F 11 Adam Ariel 28 – (1994-12-10)10 December 1994 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Hapoel Tel Aviv G 13 Roi Huber 26 – (1997-02-10)10 February 1997 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Hapoel Galil Elyon F 14 Oz Blayzer 30 – (1992-12-29)29 December 1992 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Hapoel Jerusalem C 20 Idan Zalmanson 27 – (1995-04-18)18 April 1995 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Hapoel Tel Aviv PG 21 Netanel Artzi 25 – (1997-03-21)21 March 1997 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Hapoel Eilat F 30 Nimrod Levi 27 – (1995-03-24)24 March 1995 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Hapoel Galil Elyon PG 31 Noam Yaacov 18 – (2004-10-20)20 October 2004 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Hapoel Jerusalem C 33 Gabriel Chachashvili 23 – (1999-12-08)8 December 1999 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) Hapoel Galil Elyon PF 41 Tomer Ginat 28 – (1994-11-07)7 November 1994 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Hapoel Tel Aviv SG 55 Michael Brisker 25 – (1998-02-21)21 February 1998 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) Ironi Kiryat Ata	Head coach Nadav Zilberstein (Interim) Assistant coach(es) Dror Cohen Yoav Shamir Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 24 February 2023

Current notable players who have played for the national team:

Players previously called up roster
Players	Coaches
} } Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. F Deni Avdija 21 – (2001-01-03)3 January 2001 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Washington Wizards PG Tamir Blatt 25 – (1997-05-04)4 May 1997 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Alba Berlin PF Ben Carter 28 – (1994-08-22)22 August 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Hapoel Eilat F T. J. Cline 28 – (1994-07-22)22 July 1994 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Hapoel Jerusalem C Jake Cohen 32 – (1990-09-25)25 September 1990 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Maccabi Tel Aviv G/F Or Cornelius 26 – (1996-09-26)26 September 1996 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Hapoel Jerusalem G/F Shawn Dawson 28 – (1993-12-12)12 December 1993 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Hapoel Holon G John DiBartolomeo 31 – (1991-06-20)20 June 1991 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Maccabi Tel Aviv G Noam Dovrat 20 – (2002-07-16)16 July 2002 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Hapoel Jerusalem G Golan Gutt 28 – (1994-07-11)11 July 1994 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Ironi Ness Ziona G Max Heidegger 25 – (1997-06-05)5 June 1997 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Denizli F/C Richard Howell 32 – (1990-08-26)26 August 1990 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Hapoel Haifa G/F Egor Koulechov 28 – (1994-11-05)5 November 1994 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Hapoel Be'er Sheva PF T. J. Leaf 25 – (1997-04-30)30 April 1997 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Beijing Ducks G Raviv Limonad 38 – (1984-02-26)26 February 1984 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Unattached G Yam Madar 21 – (2000-12-21)21 December 2000 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Partizan PG Gal Mekel 34 – (1988-03-04)4 March 1988 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Andorra SF Rafi Menco 28 – (1994-03-05)5 March 1994 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Maccabi Tel Aviv PG Niv Misgav 27 – (1995-07-25)25 July 1995 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Hapoel Holon PG Yogev Ohayon 35 – (1987-04-24)24 April 1987 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Ironi Nahariya SF Guy Pnini 39 – (1983-09-04)4 September 1983 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Maccabi Tel Aviv C Roman Sorkin 26 – (1996-08-11)11 August 1996 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Maccabi Tel Aviv C Alex Tyus 34 – (1988-01-08)8 January 1988 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) ASVEL G/F Spencer Weisz 27 – (1995-05-31)31 May 1995 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Hapoel Haifa PG Yiftach Ziv 27 – (1995-07-09)9 July 1995 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Maccabi Tel Aviv G/F Yovel Zoosman 24 – (1998-05-12)12 May 1998 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Alba Berlin	Legend Club – describes last club on 11 November 2022 Age – describes age on 11 November 2022

• 2015: Peak[19]

• Israel v Poland – Group D – Full Game – 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers YouTube.com video