Exciting in the shadow of the war: Maccabi Haifa legends embrace the bereaved families

The former Maccabi Haifa football veterans team in collaboration with the national "Yad Labanim" organization and the Maccabi Haifa football club held on Wednesday, May 8.5.2024, XNUMX at the "Foam" training ground in Haifa a very emotional tribute and salute game to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the "Iron Swords" war at the outbreak of the war .

The war continues to this day and this is the 215th day of fighting and the hard battles in Gaza following the rocket fire on Israel, for these bereaved families, unfortunately, the day of remembrance for the martyrs of Israel's systems that will take place at the beginning of next week will be the first day of remembrance for these families. 

The CEO of the "Yad Labanim" organization, Gal Avraham, said with great excitement:

Thank you to the Maccabi Haifa Football Club and the Maccabi Haifa Veterans Association for the partnership and taking part in such an important game for the benefit of the bereaved families. A huge thank you for opening your heart and your home and hosting us today, here on their lot in Haifa.

The legends of Maccabi Haifa

In the Maccabi Haifa legends game, many football legends and past stars took part and played on the field, including Yossi Benyon who scored the second goal in the game, Reuven Atar and Shai Dahan who each scored a spectacular pair of goals in the game, Giovanni Russo, Alon Harazi, Zahi Armali, Gustavo Bukoli, Viam Amasha, Rafi Cohen, goalkeeper Danny Shoshan, Avishai Zhanno, Elon Schweger, Assi Abrahami, Ayman Halaila, Yossi Janach, Maor Janach, Asher Bohdana, Nadiv Siman Tov, Patricio Seig and 2 reinforcement players were added to them And they are the CEO of the Maccabi Haifa football club Itzik Ovadia and the manager of the Maccabi Haifa team the goalkeeper Gil Ofek, the veterans of Maccabi Haifa were coached by the former players Motti Berger and Moshe Selekter.

Itzik Ovadia, CEO of the Maccabi Haifa football club who took part and played in the green uniform on the grass, said:

Veterans of Maccabi Haifa, you are champions! Cheers!!! You gave the bereaved families a few minutes of happiness and a smile in the midst of bereavement and loss. Many thanks to each and every one of the players who took part in this game, I personally appreciate it very much. 

The end - 5:5

The game was quite even when at the end of the 60 minutes the result of the game at the end was a tie 5:5. The legends of the Greens Reuven Atar and Shay Dahan scored 2 goals each while their teammate Yossi Benyon also scored a goal for the Greens. In the meantime, we would like to point out that starting from the seventh of October, nearly 700 bereaved families were added to the terrible and painful cycle of bereavement in the State of Israel, the "Yad Labanim" organization accompanies the bereaved families every day, hugs them and helps them cope with the pain and difficulty.  

Ziv Avigal, VP of branches at the "Yad Labanim" organization, added:

Dear Oded and the association of former players of Maccabi Haifa, on behalf of the "Yad Labanim" organization, I would like to thank each and every one of you personally for the amazing response to participate in the tribute game for the families of the martyrs of the "Iron Swords" war. Not obvious to me! This is the first day of remembrance that these families experience personally. The goal of the game a few days before Memorial Day is to ease the pain of the families a little and even make them smile in these difficult days and all thanks to you! The players they grew up admiring in the team they are fans of! Pat yourselves on the back. you deserve it ! A big thank you to the Maccabi Haifa club, Yaakov Shahar and Itzik Ovadia, who immediately agreed to my request to hold the game and connected me with your association and are even responsible for all the logistical aspects of holding the game. Thank you all, green is rising!  

Also coming to honor the bereaved families in this exciting game were the initiators and organizers of the game, CEO of the national "Yad Labanim" organization Gal Avraham, VP of branches Ziv Avigal, CEO of Maccabi Haifa Itzik Ovadia, chairman and veterans of the former players of Maccabi Haifa Oded Belosh, team manager Aryeh Barzilai, Eli Debi, founder of the bereaved siblings organization "Forever my brother" and initiator of the Law of Recognition of Siblings and lobbying of bereaved parents and siblings and former chairman of the rehabilitation committee at "Yad Labanim", former player and former manager of the Maccabi Haifa team Rafi Osamo, coach of Maccabi Haifa And the former Israeli national team Shlomo Sharaf whose beloved granddaughter Mai Naim - the late Sharaf was killed when she was 24 years old, in the murderous and brutal terrorist attack by the Hamas organization on that Black Saturday of October 7th at a party in Kibbutz Ra'im in the south, Maccabi Haifa ambassador Zion Merili, Maccabi Haifa goalkeeper Formerly Nir Davidovich, many football fans, members of the bereaved families and more, the game was correctly refereed by the match referee Yitzhar Yitzhak. 

At the end of the moving game of greeting and honoring the bereaved families, the chairman of the Maccabi Haifa veterans group, Oded Belosh, said:

First, as a member of the entire family, I assure you all the bereaved families that the former players of the Maccabi Haifa veterans will do everything in their power so that this important game in memory of our dear and brave Israeli soldiers will become a tradition every year and will be played in preparation for the day of remembrance for the martyrs of the Israeli forces. The veterans group of Maccabi Haifa, the former players and the entire professional and administrative staff consider it a great privilege to honor and embrace the bereaved families who went through the worst of all, since October 7th, we will do everything in our power to wrap the families of the martyrs and the murdered and the injured, thank you to all the players who came close and from afar This is the least we can do for our soldiers, the heroes of Israel who fell in the hardest battles of the war. It is a great honor for us to participate today and take part in the game of saluting and honoring the bereaved families, which was also extremely moving, this is an important opportunity for us to pay tribute to the fallen, to instill the memory of their heroism in the younger generation and to strengthen the values ​​of mutual and communal commitment. The sport is known for its ability to unite people from all ends of the social spectrum, and to promote values ​​of cooperation, tolerance and unity that are so important at this time, a huge thanks in particular to the bereaved families whose memory of their loved ones will continue to live with us forever. Also - yes, thanks to the Maccabi Haifa football club and the "Yad Labanim" organization and CEO Gal Avraham for the initiative and for organizing this exciting and important game, may the memory of all the Israeli soldiers be blessed.

Maccabi Haifa legend Reuven Atar also said:

Tonight here in Haifa it was very moving to see the members of the bereaved families smiling and receiving a big hug from us, kudos to all the organizers for the game. 

Another former Maccabi Haifa player who was one of the giant symbols of the Greens was Yossi Benyon who came especially from the center of the country and willingly responded to the call to come and showed up at the tribute game and saluted the bereaved families on the grass on the "Katsaf" field. He was a great legend with the number 15, Yossi Benyon who said: "Thank you very much To the former players and veterans of Maccabi Haifa for the great privilege to be part of this honorable, impressive and exciting event, it was great fun to see everyone, I would appreciate it if you always call me to take part in the games of the legends of Maccabi Haifa". 

In the meantime, it should be noted that Yossi Benyon was also the last to leave the grass at the "Foam" field last night, and this after he also gave dozens of autographs, on shirts and balls brought by the fans from the bereaved families, and he happily agreed to take a picture with every fan until the very last fan who left the field where he played This exciting game, we have no doubt, "the man before the player" - actor and gentleman, Yossi Benyon!