Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and a delegation of NFL Hall of Famers currently touring Israel with Kraft were all in attendance at the dedication of the new Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem's Arazim Valley on Tuesday. Kraft, whose family was also there, donated $6 million for the construction of the complex, which was also made possible through the cooperation of Israel's national lottery Mifal Hapayis, the Israel Sports Betting Board, the Jerusalem Foundation, the Jerusalem Municipality's sports department and the Moriah Jerusalem Development Corporation. The complex will host this summer's Maccabiah Games and contains artificial and natural grass soccer fields and an artificial grass football field. In a meeting with Kraft and the former NFL players on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared football strategy to Israeli policy. "You seek peace but you've got to be strong," he said. "If you're not strong, you'll never get peace, and if you're not strong, you'll be in war and turmoil. And the worst thing is, you lose. So, I'm sure that when you prepare for your games, you dont say, 'Well, do I need to be strong, fast and nimble-' Is that a question? No. Your game is not different from ours. The only difference is, if we lose, the consequences are immutable. We had enough of that in our history. So we won't let that happen again."
New England Patriots owner dedicates Jerusalem sports center
Robert Kraft, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, NFL Hall of Famers attend opening of Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem's Arazim Valley • Sports complex includes soccer fields and a football field and will host this summer's Maccabiah Games.
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