New Jerusalem Basketball Team Honors Six Hostages Murdered in Gaza

A new basketball team, Hapoel HaShisha Jerusalem, has been established to commemorate the six Israeli hostages who were murdered in Hamas captivity. Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Uri Danino, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Carmel Gat were held for nearly 11 months before being killed in a tunnel in Rafah in late August 2024. Five of them were abducted from the Nova music festival, while Gat was taken from her parents' home in Kibbutz Be'eri, where her mother was killed during the October 7th massacre.

The initiative was launched by 21-year-olds Nadav Hass and Amitai Waltman. Hass, whose parents have a long-standing connection with the family of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, explained that the idea was to create a team that embodies the spirit of Hapoel Jerusalem, a club Hersh was deeply connected to. The goal is to keep their memory alive and ensure they are never forgotten.

The team will compete in Liga Alef, the fourth tier of Israeli basketball, taking the place of Hapoel Pisgat Ze'ev, which will move down to Liga Bet. The club aims to raise 200,000 shekels for the upcoming season through crowdfunding and sponsorships, with aspirations to be a strong team striving for promotion.

Families of the murdered hostages have expressed deep emotion and gratitude for the initiative. Rachel Pollin, Hersh's mother, emphasized the importance of remembering him through community action rather than just monuments. The diversity of the six hostages, representing various segments of Israeli society, is also highlighted as a key aspect of their commemoration.

The team will play its home games at the Mount Scopus arena in Jerusalem, which features an electronic scoreboard that will display the images of the six hostages, along with other victims of the October 7th massacre and the Swords of Iron War, ensuring a continuous and public remembrance.