Isaac Herzog<\/a> praised the recipient, saying he was \u201cvery proud\u201d that the award named after his father was being presented to Arad, \u201cwho broke every glass ceiling \u2013 from winning Israel\u2019s first Olympic medal to becoming the highly accomplished president of the Olympic Committee.\u201d<\/p>\nPresident Herzog noted that his father viewed sport as a tool for social advancement, achievement, and the promotion of Israel\u2019s image around the world, adding that Chaim Herzog \u201cwas the president who proudly sent Yael to the Olympics and welcomed her home with Israel\u2019s first medal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof. Tamir Shafer said the partnership between the Yad Chaim Herzog Foundation and the Hebrew University reflected their shared commitment to leadership, excellence, public service, and the advancement of Israeli society.<\/p>\n
He described Arad as someone who powerfully embodies those values, highlighting not only her achievements in sport, business, and public life, but also her role as a member of the Hebrew University\u2019s Board of Governors and her contribution to science, higher education, and academic excellence in Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe represents a rare combination of determination and excellence,\u201d he said, praising her perseverance, resilience, leadership, and managerial abilities throughout her career.<\/p>\n
Arad’s full-circle moment<\/p>\n
Accepting the award, Arad described the recognition as \u201ca great honor\u201d and said that joining the distinguished list of previous recipients was deeply meaningful. She paid tribute to Chaim Herzog as a model of leadership, dedication, and service to Israel, noting his military service and public contributions.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on her Olympic breakthrough in Barcelona, Arad recalled that Chaim Herzog had wished the Israeli delegation success and welcomed them home after their achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, this is an extraordinarily moving full-circle moment,\u201d she said, adding that President Isaac Herzog and Michal Herzog have accompanied her through many challenges on the international stage in recent years during her tenure as Chair of the Olympic Committee of Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s first Olympic medalist, Yael Arad, was awarded the Chaim Herzog Presidential Award for Unique Contribution to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[15589,3987,37,34464,1397,549],"class_list":["post-151242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-hebrew-university-of-jerusalem","tag-isaac-herzog","tag-israel","tag-israeli-olympic-team","tag-olympics","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116715631729914755","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Israeli](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/724825.jpeg\"\/)
Israeli president Isaac Herzog, Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar and head of the OCI Yael Arad hosts the Israeli Olympic delegation and the Paralympic delegation competing at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on June 19, 2024. (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON\/FLASH90)Arad receives Chaim Herzog Award for breaking glass cieling<\/p>\n