During a ceremony in honor of and in the presence of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team, the new champion of the Israeli basketball league, President Reuven Rivlin also addressed the foreign players of the new champion in his remarks - when he told them: "You are Jerusalemites from now on. We celebrate with you and after 3,000 years in which Jerusalem was the capital of Israel, you brought it a championship. Since King David, you are the most famous in the city.".
At the traditional ceremony that is celebrated every year at the President's House together with the champion, Rivlin said: "You brought about some kind of earthquake in Israeli sports. After all, Hapoel Jerusalem won the championship after many years of waiting for it. Before I was president of the state, I was a Beitar fan with every muscle in my body and we had a great rivalry with Hapoel Jerusalem, but I was a Jerusalemite in everything related to basketball.".
""We won the championship when the team is well-connected, with a great mayor and when we have one of the most beautiful basketball courts in the Middle East. I am indeed a Betari member and was elected president of the state, but I am a Jerusalemite, the son of Jerusalemites, and I am very proud that you brought the championship to the city.".
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The President of the State expressed his hope that this championship, in which two players from the senior Israeli team participated, will also bring success in the European arena for the Israeli team. "I hope and long that Israeli basketball, whose name has spread from one end of the country to the other, will flourish and grow, and its players will serve as the decisive factor in it.".
Team captain Yotam Halperin responded to the president's words: "Kudos to the president for his knowledge. We have been through and will be through many more events since the historic championship, but this is one of the highlights - closing this circle with Hapoel Jerusalem and the friends who sit here, the Israelis and the other people who contributed to this hard work.".
