Israel has won one gold, two silver and five bronze medals, putting the 2012 London Paralympics among the country’s best Olympic showing in history.Noam Gershony won gold in the tennis singles, beating top seed David Wagner of the USA 6-3 6-1. Previously, Gershony and Shraga Weinberg won a bronze medal in the tennis doubles. Weinberg defeated defending singles champion Peter Norfolk of Britain in the quarter finals, where he was defeated by his partner Gershony.
Noam Gershony, a former helicopter pilot, learned to play tennis in a wheelchair after a crash during the Second Lebanon War left him severely wounded.
PM Netanyahu: “You symbolise the victory of the human spirit over the difficulties created by the reality in which we live. This is gold for you and the country”.
Doron Shaziri won Israel’s first silver medal at the 2012 games in rifle shooting, followed by another for Lion Koby in cycling.
Israeli swimmer Inbal Pezaro won three bronze medals and Itzhak Mamistvalov one bronze. Mamistvalov, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at eight-months-old, is disabled in all limbs except for his right arm with which he swims.
On Tuesday morning, the delegation travelled to the President’s Residence in Jerusalem for an official reception with Shimon Peres.