"You are the Olympic gold of Israel. No one has ever brought more honor as you all did. The Olympic games are surely physical but are also a competition of mind and spirit."The president arranged a farewell ceremony for all the athletes and coaches which will represent Israel at the Paralympics games in Beijing 2008.
The president gave a warm blessing to the athletes and said: "You are the Olympic gold of Israel. No one has ever brought more honor as you all did. The Olympic games are surely physical but are also a competition of mind and spirit."
"Your actions symbolize intractability to hard situations and the will to continue. You carry pride of athleticism and I ask to wish you in the name of the country to keep up the amazing effort and prove to everyone that no one can stop you."
At the ceremony the flag was passed from the flag carrier from Athens 2004, Hanoch Budin, to the blind swimmer Izhar Cohen, a senior athlete which has been to six Olympics games. As he received the flag, the president got up and surprised Izhar with a big and warm hug which brought load cheering from the crowed.