Israel men's national ice hockey team

The Israel national ice hockey team (Hebrew: נבחרת ישראל בהוקי קרח) is the national men's ice hockey team of Israel. Israel was ranked 35th as of May 2017 by the International Ice Hockey Federation. In 2019, the team won the gold medal in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Mexico City.
Its greatest achievement in its history was winning its division II group in 2005 and being promoted to division I for the first, and thus far only, time. Israel was relegated back to division II a year later.
==World Championships record==
Eliezer Sherbatov drew international attention when he first played in the 2005 IIHF World U18 Championship Division III, in Bulgaria, at the age of 13, becoming the youngest player to step on the ice in an under-18 ice hockey world championship. He scored 9 points (4 goals + 5 assists) in 5 games, as the team won a bronze medal, Israel's first in hockey in a championship tournament.
The team was promoted to the IIHF World Championship Division I in 2005 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships. The following year the team was relegated again to Division II. In 2010, Israel was relegated to Division III.2010 IIHF World Championship DIV II Group B
However, in 2011 the team finished first in Division III Group B, earning a promotion back to Division II.2011 IIHF World Championship DIV III Israel won all five of its games by a combined score of 57–9, and was promoted to the IIHF Division II WHC to be played in 2012. Sherbatov led the tournament in points, goals, assists, and +/-, earning 26 points (14 goals + 12 assists) in just four games. He was named the best forward of the tournament.
At the 2012 IIHF World Championship Division II tournament in Bulgaria, the Israeli team was able to stay in the second division. Beginning in 2015 and still as of 2020, Sherbatov was captain of the national team.
In 2019, the team won the gold medal in the 2019 IIHF World Championship Division II Group B tournament in Mexico City, Israel's first gold medal in hockey. With the win, the team qualified for the World Championships Division 2A. Sherbatov was named Best Forward, and had the best +/- rating, was the top goal scorer, and was the top scorer with 15 points (7 goals + 8 assists) in 5 games.
Year 	Place	Division 	Division place 	Group 	 	 	 	 	 	
1992 	30th 	Group C2 	4th 	 	5 	1 	1 	3 	22 	42
1993 	31st 	Group C1 	6th 	 	7 	2 	0 	5 	30 	97
1994 	34th 	Group C2 	7th 	 	5 	1 	0 	4 	19 	36
1995 	35th 	Group C2 	6th 	 	6 	3 	0 	3 	39 	23
1996 	35th 	Group D 	7th 	 	7 	3 	1 	3 	34 	35
1997 	33rd 	Group D 	5th 	 	5 	2 	0 	3 	22 	28
1998 	35th 	Group D 	3rd 	 	5 	3 	0 	2 	39 	19
1999 	33rd 	Group D 	2nd 	 	4 	3 	0 	1 	21 	5
2000 	34th 	Group D 	1st 	 	4 	3 	0 	1 	31 	7
2001 	32nd 	Division II 	2nd 	Group B 	5 	4 	0 	1 	21 	11
2002 	34th 	Division II 	3rd 	Group A 	5 	3 	0 	2 	14 	22
2003 	37th 	Division II 	3rd 	Group B 	5 	1 	2 	2 	11 	19
2004 	38th 	Division II 	5th 	Group A 	5 	0 	1 	4 	3 	28
2005 	30th 	Division II 	1st 	Group B 	5 	4 	1 	0 	21 	11
2006 	28th 	Division I 	6th 	Group A 	5 	0 	0 	5 	3 	47
2007 	34th 	Division II 	3rd 	Group B 	4 	2 	0 	2 	6 	24
2008 	36th 	Division II 	4th 	Group A 	5 	2 	0 	3 	16 	28
2009 	38th 	Division II 	5th 	Group A 	5 	1 	0 	4 	9 	38
2010 	39th 	Division II 	6th 	Group B 	5 	0 	0 	5 	11 	55
2011 	41st 	Division III	1st 	 	5 	5 	0 	0 	57 	9
2012 	39th 	Division II 	5th 	Group B 	5 	2 	0 	3 	19 	22
2013 	35th 	Division II 	1st 	Group B 	5 	4 	0 	1 	30 	14
2014 	34th 	Division II 	6th 	Group A 	5 	1 	0 	4 	19 	37
2015 	39th 	Division II 	5th 	Group B 	5 	1 	0 	4 	11 	20
2016 	37th 	Division II 	3rd 	Group B 	5 	2 	0 	3 	22 	33
2017 	37th 	Division II 	3rd 	Group B 	5 	3 	0 	2 	24 	14
2018 	37th 	Division II 	3rd 	Group B 	5 	3 	0 	2 	24 	14
2019 	35th 	Division II 	1st 	Group B 	5 	5 	0 	0 	32 	16
2020 	 	Division II 	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 	 	Division II 	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022 	31st 	Division II 	5th 	Group A 	4 	0 	0 	4 	4 	32
2023 	33rd 	Division II 	5th 	Group A 	5 	1 	0 	4 	14 	37
2024 	32nd 	Division II 	4th 	Group A 	5 	1 	0 	4 	17 	26
Total	– 	– 	– 	– 	156 	66 	6 	84 	645 	849
==Olympics==
Israel has tried to qualify for the Olympics four times. In their first attempt in 1996 for the 1998 Winter Olympics they played Greece in a preliminary match in Metula, which they lost 10-2. However, Greece used ineligible players, so Israel played another preliminary match against Yugoslavia, in Kaunas. Israel lost the game 5-3, but ended up being disqualified anyways due to use of ineligible players from Russia. The scores for both forfeited matches are recorded as 5-0.
Israel's second attempt was in 2012 for the 2014 Winter Olympics, where they were the lowest-ranked country attempting to qualify at 40th place. Israel was placed in a preliminary qualifying group with Croatia, Serbia and Mexico for a round-robin qualifier in Zagreb, in which they lost every game.
In 2015 Israel attempted to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics, and were placed in the first preliminary round. In their group matches held in Tallinn, they were unable to qualify for the second preliminary round, beating Bulgaria but losing to Estonia and Mexico.
Israel's most recent attempt was in 2019 for the 2022 Winter Olympics. For the first time, they were ranked high enough to skip the first round of qualification, and were placed in the second pre-qualification round held in Brașov. In their group they lost to Romania and Iceland, but were able to beat Kyrgyzstan in overtime.
Year	Seeding 	Round 	Group 	Place 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
1994	Did not enter	Did not enter 	Did not enter 	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter
1998	---- 	Preliminary Matches 	Preliminary Matches	 	2 	1 	0 	0 	1 	5 	5
2002	Did not enter	Did not enter 	Did not enter 	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter
2006	Did not enter	Did not enter 	Did not enter 	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter
2010	Did not enter	Did not enter 	Did not enter 	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter
2014	40th 	Preliminary Qualifier	Group K 	4th 	3 	0 	0 	0 	3 	5 	29
2018	32nd 	Qualification Round 1	Group K 	3rd 	3 	1 	0 	0 	2 	6 	26
2022	33rd 	Qualification Round 2	Group K 	3rd 	3 	0 	1 	0 	2 	5 	24
2026	Did not enter	Did not enter 	Did not enter 	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter	Did not enter
==All-time record against other nations==
As of 27 April 2024
Team 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	14 	6 	0	8 	50 	69
 	15 	6 	1	8 	46 	60
 	11 	6 	2	3 	50 	36
 	9 	1 	0	8 	25 	58
 	7 	0 	0	7 	7 	53
 	5 	0 	0	5 	9 	79
 	1 	0 	0	1 	0 	9
 	2 	1 	0	1 	10 	9
 	1 	0 	0	1 	2 	11
 	1 	0 	0	1 	0 	12
 	5 	4 	1	0 	59 	13
 	1 	0 	0	1 	0 	8
 	12 	8 	0	4 	55 	34
 	1 	1 	0	0 	7 	1
 	1 	0 	0	1 	1 	7
 	1 	1 	0	0 	5 	4
 	1 	0 	0	1 	0 	32
 	1 	0 	0	1 	2 	7
 	4 	2 	2	0 	26 	9
 	11 	6 	0	5 	42 	46
 	1 	1 	0	0 	5 	0
 	1 	0 	0	1 	0 	7
 	8 	3 	0	5 	36 	31
 	8 	5 	2	1 	45 	31
 	4 	0 	0	4 	2 	55
 	8 	2 	0	6 	20 	44
 	8 	7 	0	1 	46 	21
 	4 	0 	1	3 	11 	23
 	9 	1 	1	7 	17 	76
 	8 	8 	0	0 	78 	11
 	1 	0 	0	1 	6 	10
 	1 	0 	0	1 	0 	29
Total	165	69	9	87	662	895
==References==
==External links==
*Official website
*IIHF profile
Category:Ice hockey teams in Israel
Category:National ice hockey teams in Asia