In front of thousands of people: “He started threatening, it was a very stressful moment”

Last Saturday, the project “Realizing the Dream of the World Cup USA 2026” of the organization “Together We Will Win” was launched, led by Shai Gaucher and the association “Realizing a Dream” led by Gilad Salter. A delegation of dozens of participants, including 45 orphans from the Iron Swords War and victims of October 7, along with 22 children with special needs, flew to fulfill their dream of seeing the world’s biggest soccer event up close.

On Monday, the members of the delegation arrived at the first match of their trip between the German national team and Paraguay, wrapped in Israeli flags. “We sat in the stadium as a group in an orderly manner, some of the children had Israeli flags and also pictures of their fathers, the heroes who fell in the battles,” says Shlomi Cohen, a member of the delegation.

During the game, a fan who was present in the stands wearing a Palestine shirt, approached the members of the delegation in a threatening manner and began to curse and threaten the Israelis. “It was undoubtedly a stressful moment, because we saw his shirt and he approached us in a defiant and threatening manner, but very quickly the security personnel pounced on him and took him away,” recalls Cohen. “In response, we spontaneously sang ‘El El Israel’, the whole stand noticed it and it was impossible to ignore it, we didn’t let anyone scare or discourage us because we are Israelis.”

According to Cohen, even in the additional games that the members of the delegation attended, they encountered pro-Palestinians outside the stadiums who cursed them and even tried to attack them. “In the end, our goal is to make these children happy, and nothing will stop that. They have a huge heart and deserve to enjoy themselves after everything they’ve been through.”