'It is important that we beat the Gentiles': the national significance of Israel's soccer matches against the USSR, summer 1956

Representative sport, like many other cultural fields, was engraved in Israel's formative years as a national enthusiasm and created a strong desire to present its new characteristics of sovereignty to the world. This essay analyses the significance of Israel's soccer matches against the USSR in the summer of 1956 and claims that its importance is first and foremost symbolic. The Israeli soccer team was perceived as a factor that had the power to greatly increase patriotism, especially at a time when Israel was deeply concerned about its survival, as well as to fulfil the public's desire to appear on the global stage aside equally established and recognized states. In this case, the sports confrontation served as a mirror of the image and self awareness of the developing Israeli society.