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Although the Tokyo Olympics proved that there are great islands of excellence in Israel, including in industries we never dreamed of, such as gymnastics - you will hear a story that teaches why, despite progress, we are still immersed in the swamp of pragmatism.
This week, Israel Vigdorchik, the legendary artistic gymnastics coach, left Israel to train the world's number one gymnastics powerhouse, Russia.
Moscow are still licking their wounds from the big failure in Tokyo - the Russians have lost the premiere to Linoy Ashram in person, and to the Bulgarian team in my team.
The important woman in Russian and world gymnastics, Ira Wiener, decided that Vigdorchik, a great coach (second and third place in the world championships, three gold, three silver and four bronze medals in the European Championships, and twice sixth in the Olympic final) and a complex personality, is best suited to bring Russia back to the top . Vigdorchik's supporters say that only sports activists in Israel are capable of losing a coaching talent of its kind; Opponents say they are tired of the wars, which have included lawsuits against the union.
What was the big fight about? Ahead of the Olympics, Israel presented an artistic team consisting of five gymnasts (coached by Vigdorchik), and two other gymnasts in the individual competition, Linoy Ashram and Linor Zelikman (coached by Ayelet Sussman and Ella Smolov). Vigdorchik claimed that she did not receive the best gymnasts for the team, and that although Ashram and Zelikman were chosen to represent Israel in the individual competition, coach Smoplov (who had a bad relationship with Vigdorchik) preferred not to transfer gymnasts to the team, even at the end of their careers. The gymnastics association did not intervene, and this week they lost Vigdorchik.
It does not end here. The chairman of the gymnastics association, Kinneret Zedaf, who has gained a great international reputation for his success in Tokyo, will replace Yoram Orenstein in May as CEO of the Hapoel Center, the largest and most influential sports organization in Israel. In fact, Shell will become a powerful woman in Israeli sports in the summer. But since she has no desire to lose her power in gymnastics, someone named Avraham Sagi, whom I know from 30 years ago as a gray football activist at Hapoel Petah Tikva, has now been appointed chairman of the gymnastics association. What about him and the gymnastics power that has developed here? Only God knows.
When
Eyal Berkowitz returned to Israel after almost a decade of a great football career in Britain, he joined Maccabi Tel Aviv, in what is remembered as the failed Galacticos season. 15 years have passed since then, and Berkowitz finds himself today as a prominent and returning media man. Daily sports on Tel Aviv radio for the prime time bonfire with a talk show on Friday, and in the past year he also joined the sports channel, where he interprets the Premier League games and Israeli football in general on the Shabbat program.
Over the years since retiring from the game, Berkowitz has tried to enter Israeli football in several roles, but all of them ended up as short-lived adventures.
He established a football school in Nesher, came to Maccabi Netanya and left it, was invited by Haim Ramon to manage professionally at Hapoel Tel Aviv, which ended in a farce, bought the Rishon LeZion team and managed it with his father and brother, went to Hapoel Petah Tikva and left there as well.
But Berkowitz does not achieve his biggest dream - coaching the Israeli national team, and it is doubtful that he will achieve it.
Although he has not taken a coaching course, nor has he coached even a small group, his supporters hold the chaos approach, according to which if we tried everyone, including the great coaches in Israel - Kashtan, Grant, Sharaf, Guttman, and also foreign coaches - what is the problem of giving the baton to many The Israeli actors who have been here since time immemorial.
By the way, there is no doubt that he is among the big three.
Guy Peleg, News 12 reporter, is one of Berkowitz's close friends.
They have known each other since Peleg was the spokesman for Maccabi Haifa in the 1990s.
This week I asked Peleg what qualities make Eyal suitable for coaching the team.
Peleg replied: "A deep understanding of football, a deep familiarity with European football, an admirable figure for the national football team, charisma, renewed and enormous interest in the team."
But Peleg knows, and he has often said, that one of the big obstacles that will prevent Berkowitz from receiving the keys to the team is his attitude and statements towards Arab players on the team, and his opposition to awarding the captain's film to a non-Jewish player, like Beavers Natcho the Circassian. Berkowitz holds a one-dimensional worldview that anyone who does not sing the lyrics of the anthem cannot be a captain. He ignores the fact that the cemeteries in Julis, Hurfish, Beit Jann and Kfar Kama (Natcho's village) are full of non-Jewish IDF casualties, who gave their lives for national security, even though they probably did not sing "Homily Jewish Soul" on Independence Day. Therefore, the claim that Berkowitz is an adored figure among the team's players does not really hold up.
And we have not yet entered into the really important issues of what Eyal's professional vision is for the team.
Sitting in the studio and demanding offensive play in any situation is great, but even Willy Rotensteiner sees no problem with offensive play.
On the contrary, in his chosen period was the most offensive I can remember, but the difficult problems remained in defense.
Israel simply does not have good enough defensive players, and Barko's charisma or passion will not solve fundamental weaknesses that require work from the children's teams already.
A team, certainly like Israel, is not a workplace for past stars accustomed to permanent fame, and less for a long-term process that requires maturation.
I return to the starting point I have been talking about for a long time: frequent changes of national coach are an easy solution, which will never solve the sickness of football.
Even the great coaches, including Jürgen Klopp, will not make a difference here, because they will be required to carry out a mental revolution that costs a huge fortune, and into which the state and decision-makers are unwilling to enter.
So they will continue to change coaches once every two or three years, and Berkowitz will continue to push himself for the coveted position (is she really like that?).
I have more than a feeling, that Barco himself knows he has no chance of getting the job, but it's nice for him to have fun in the fantasy.
Because the truth is - why should he lose the media-economic bonanza he is sitting on, and be humiliated in a place where he can not succeed.
Aviadp65@gmail.com
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