Yael Arad, Israel’s first Olympic medalist and current chair of the Olympic Committee of Israel, was awarded the Chaim Herzog Prize for her unique contribution to the State of Israel in a ceremony at the President’s Residence.
The prize, awarded by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in partnership with Yad Chaim Herzog, was presented in the presence of President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog, Hebrew University President Professor Tamir Sheafer and university chancellor Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson.
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Yael Arad receives the Chaim Herzog Prize from President Isaac Herzog and Hebrew U President Professor Tamir Sheafer
(Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO)
Arad won Israel’s first Olympic medal in judo at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and dedicated it to the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics. She later became a leading figure in Israeli sports and now serves as a member of the International Olympic Committee.
“I am very proud that the prize named after my father, Chaim Herzog, is being awarded to Yael Arad, who broke every glass ceiling — from Israel’s first Olympic medal to her achievements as president of the Olympic Committee,” President Isaac Herzog said. “He was the president who proudly sent Yael to the Olympics and welcomed her back with Israel’s first medal.”
Arad called the award “an incredibly moving full circle moment.”
“For me, joining the extraordinary list of prize recipients is a great privilege,” she said. “In 1992, when I won the Olympic medal, President Chaim Herzog blessed us with success and welcomed us home victorious. For me, it is a deeply moving closing of a circle that his son, the 11th president, Isaac Herzog, and Mrs. Michal Herzog have accompanied me through many challenges in the international arena in recent years in my role as chair of the Olympic Committee of Israel.”
Sheafer said Arad “embodies determination, excellence, mental resilience, leadership and managerial ability,” adding that the university and Yad Chaim Herzog were proud to honor her.
The prize is awarded every two years on the anniversary of the death of Israel’s sixth president. This year’s ceremony was postponed because of Operation Roaring Lion.