Rifaat Turk

Israeli teams

After being spotted by chance by a scout while playing on a beach in 1970 at the age of 16, Turk joined Hapoel Tel Aviv's youth team, and made his debut for the senior club in July 1972. In 1980, he was named Israel's player of the year. He won the Israeli championship with the team in 1981. He played for Hapoel Ramat Gan on loan from July 1982 until July 1983, when he returned to Hapoel Tel Aviv. After leaving Hapoel Tel Aviv as a player in 1984, Turk signed with Hapoel Jerusalem in July 1984. He retired from playing in July 1987. In 2013, Turk played on the Israeli Peace Team, an over-35-years-of-age all-star team of Israeli former professional soccer players who were Muslim, Jewish, and Christian, some who had competed on Israel's national soccer team. The Israeli Peace Team toured the United States, promoting peace through football. Turk was the pioneer for dozens of Arab-Israeli football players who followed him, and a pioneer of Arab-Jewish integration in Israeli football. In 2012, all but one of the football teams in the Israeli first division had at least one Arab-Israeli player, and the league's top two goalscorers were Arab-Israelis. By 2020, almost half the players on Team Israel were Arab-Israeli players.

Team Israel and Olympics

Turk made his debut for the Israel national team, at 21 years of age, on 25 July 1976, playing for Team Israel manager David Schweitzer. He played 33 games for the Israeli national team in his career from…

Turk is a member of the Israeli Meretz political party. He was elected to the Tel Aviv City Council in 1998. In 2003, he was elected the Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv. In 2008, when Israeli former basketball star Tal Brody entered politics, Turk advised that in his view: "The political field is much more dirty and self-interested than the field of sports."

Born in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, Israel, to Arab-Israeli parents, Turk was the son of a fisherman, and is Muslim. He was the second of eight children of Hichmat Türk. He dropped out of school during the eighth grade. He was 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) tall, and weighed 75 kg (165 lb), during his playing days.

Turk's son Hanes is part of Hapoel Tel Aviv's youth system.