Olympic Committee of Israel

The formation of the state of Israel as an independent Jewish state occurred on 15 May 1948. Israel dates its National Olympic Committee (NOC) to 1933, but that was a Palestine organization, and not truly a precursor of the current NOC. The original Palestine Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 17 May 1934 at the IOC session in Athens, and was to represent Jews, Muslims, and Christians from the Palestine region. However, the rules of the original Palestine NOC stated, “Palestine is the National Home of the Jews, and so the Palestine NOC represents the Jewish National Home.” Given that manifesto, the Palestine NOC refused to compete at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, in protest of Adolf Hitler’s policies. After World War II, the 1948 London Organizing Committee originally invited the Palestine NOC but later withdrew the invitation. The problem of the status of the Palestine Olympic Committee was solved in 1951 when the Israel Olympic Committee was formed.

Original name: הוועד האולימפי בישראל

Note: Zilist and Zysman (1956-1960) held office by yearly rotation.