Israel will not participate in upcoming IIHF hockey tournaments;
The International Ice Hockey Federation has announced that Israel will not participate in upcoming IIHF events for the time being “due to concerns over the safety and security of all participants in the Championships.”
No timeline for Israel’s return is known.
According to a statement, “the IIHF Council, within its power found in IIHF Statute has decided to restrict the Israeli National Team from participating in IIHF Championships until the safety and well-being of all participants (including Israeli participants) can be assured.”
Israel is the 33rd-ranked men’s team, with the women’s team sitting last in 44th after playing in their first tournament back in 2022.
Israel was set to participate in three IIHF events this year; the men’s Division IIB U-18 World Championship in Spain from March 17-23; the Division IIIB women’s World Championship in Estonia from March 24-29; and the Division IIA men’s World Hockey Championship in Serbia from April 21-27. Israel is not part of the Olympic qualification cycle for 2026.
The move comes in the midst of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Israel will become the third active nation to sit out IIHF competition with the prior suspensions of Russia and Belarus back in 2022.
Israel has been part of the IIHF since 1991, with the men’s team making its debut in 1992. The team made it to Division I back in 2006 – the second-highest division at the time –before spending most of the 2010s in Division IIB. They won gold at that level in 2019, earning them a spot in the Division IIA tournament in 2022 and 2023, finishing fifth both times.
Update: According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli Ice Hockey Association is filing a claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the matter.
Knesset Sports Committee chair Simon Davidson is quoted as saying that “it is the exclusion of a country as a whole, which, according to the International Olympic Committee, is illegal,” calling the IIHF decision “arbitrary.”