Israel men's national junior ice hockey team

Israel
Association	Ice Hockey Federation of Israel
IIHF code	ISR
Team colors
First international
	Estonia 12 - 3 Israel ; (Sofia, Bulgaria; 1996-1997)
Biggest win
	Israel 17 - 0 South Africa ; (Mexico City, Mexico; 2016)
Biggest defeat
	Croatia 16 - 1 Israel ; (Gangneung, South Korea; January 28, 2020)
IIHF World U20 Championship
Appearances	5 (first in 1997)
Best result	31st (1997)
International record (W–L–T)
	14-11-0

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The Israel men's national under 20 ice hockey team is the national under-20 ice hockey team of Israel. The team is controlled by the Ice Hockey Federation of Israel, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Israel first played at the 1997 World Junior Championships, but did not return until 2016.

History

Israel played its first U20 game during the 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.^[1] They were placed in Pool D with the games being held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Israel's first game was against Estonia which they lost 12–3.^[2] The game is also recorded as Israel's largest ever loss.^[1] Within Pool D Israel was drawn into a preliminary group against Estonia, South Africa, and Yugoslavia.^[2] They finished the preliminary round in third place after managing to win their game against South Africa. Based on the positions in the preliminary round the teams were then drawn into placement games against the other preliminary group.^[2] Israel was drawn into the placement game for fifth place against the hosts Bulgaria.^[2] They won the game 7–3, which is also their largest ever win in international participation.^[1]

After leaving the U20 level for several years, the team returned to the tournament for 2016. Playing in Division III, the lowest tier, they finished fourth out of the seven teams. The following year Israel finished fifth. They won the 2018 tournament, and were promoted to Division IIB for 2019.^[3] A fifth-place finish ensured they stayed in Division IIB for 2020.