Hundreds of children ages 8 to 12, from Jewish, Arab, Druze and Bedouin communities, gathered this morning for a football event organized by the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation. The “Twin Schools for Football and Peace” project, run with the Israel Football Association and Adidas Israel, was designed to showcase partnership, inclusion and hope.
The children played in mixed teams alongside former players, ambassadors and municipal leaders. Among those participating were Pini Balili, Moshe Sinai, Avichai Yadin, Mohamed Abu Ria, Subhi Abu Yunis and Silvi Kani, together with the mayors of Herzliya and Ramla, the head of the Ein Kinia local council, and the ambassadors or deputy ambassadors of Canada, the United States and Mexico, the three host countries of the 2026 World Cup.
Israel Football Association chairman Shino Zuares said football can connect different people and cultures and can even serve as a bridge to future peace with neighbors. Peres Center chairman Hemi Peres said this is the 18th mini World Cup the center has held, and that it brings together hundreds of boys and girls while promoting coexistence, peace and fraternity. Adidas Israel CEO Yair Bel said the project uses sport to build trust, friendship and fairness across communities.
A particularly emotional moment came when Hemi Peres, Zuares and Bel presented a “peace ambassador” shirt to the family of Capt. Tomer Shoham, who had been an assistant coach in the project, was chosen for a joint youth delegation to the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, and was killed on October 7 in fighting near the Kerem Shalom outpost. His mother, Michal Shoham, said he became deeply interested in spoken Arabic through the program. The Peres Center said its football project has become a communications tool used by organizations worldwide and has won international awards and support from the Israel Football Association, Adidas, FIFA and UEFA.
