Maccabi Tel Aviv star Roman Sorkin asked to be excused from Israel’s national basketball team ahead of upcoming World Cup qualifying games against Germany and Croatia, and the request was approved because of an injury.
Sorkin joins a growing list of unavailable players. Five other injured players will also miss the window: Bar Timor, Idan Zalmanson, Gur Lavy, Tamir Blatt and Yuval Zussman. Danny Avdija was also unavailable, after not being released from the NBA for this international break.
Israel has already called up center Benaya Sror for the first time, while Eitan Burg was summoned to the squad for the first time since last summer’s EuroBasket. The team currently sits third in its qualifying group with two wins and two losses.
Croatia and Germany lead the group with records of 3-1, while Cyprus is bottom at 0-4. The report was published on June 25, 2026, at 16:45.