Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans celebrate the triumph of their team in the SuproLeague basketball final. (AP)

	An unambiguous victory for Israel

Just a short while before, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel's perennial basketball champions, had soundly defeated Panathinaikos Athens 81-67, bringing home the European Basketball Cup trophy for the first time in twenty years.

Hanging out a car window and waving a yellow Maccabi

"The whole of Israel is proud of you on this day" - President Moshe Katsav

flag on his way to the Square, a young fan called out, "Who remembers the Intifada now?"

"We won this war and we will win all the wars!'' exclaimed Maccabi coach Pini Gershon, shortly after the game ended. "More than the victory, what we wanted was to bring happiness to the people of Israel," he added.

One of the well-wishers who called Gershon to congratulate him and Maccabi on the victory was Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "You proved what can be done when you are united. ... You have returned much of our pride," Sharon said.

"You have brought us much joy tonight; we are all very happy. The whole of Israel is proud of you on this day," said President Moshe Katsav when he called Gershon.

"It is impossible to ignore the fact that Maccabi is a source of national pride,'' Maariv wrote in an editorial yesterday. The Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club has won most of the Israeli league championships over the past three decades. The club first won the European basketball cup in 1977, resulting in team captain Tal Brody's declaration of "We're on the map, and we'll stay on the map."

The last time Maccabi Tel Aviv emerged as European champions was in 1981. In last year's title match, Panathinaikos Athens, with former Maccabi star Oded Katash leading the way, defeated Maccabi 73-67. Katash is still on the Greek club's roster, but sat out the entire season on the injured list.

In Paris, Maccabi had the home-court advantage
Maccabi's triumph last night in the FIBA SuproLeague championship game took place in Paris, with over 8,000 Israeli fans in attendance. Maccabi players had the feeling of a home-court advantage. Before the game began, French security guards had to chase back unruly Greek fans, even resorting to the use of tear gas in efforts to ensure the crowd's safety.

Stars Nate Huffman and Ariel McDonald, who each scored 21 points for the team, led Maccabi Tel Aviv's efforts. Huffman, who received the SuproLeague's Most Valuable Player award in a ceremony just before the game began, warned fans that "[his] heart is here with Maccabi… but [he may] also want to play with the best in the world and try to make it with an NBA team."

Maccabi may also lose coach Gershon, who said that in a month's time he would make his decision whether to continue leading the team.

Also starring for Maccabi were team captain Nadav Henefeld and Tal Burstein, two of the few native-born Israelis on the team. Henefeld had 7 points and 20-year-old Burstein added 5 more. Completing the scoring for Maccabi were Anthony Parker with 13 points, Derrick Sharp with 5 points, Radisav Curcic with 4, Mark Brisker with 3 and Gur Shelef with 2 points.

Maccabi's victory gave Israelis, tired from a drawn-out confrontation with the Palestinians, a rare opportunity to smile, to be proud and to celebrate. As Eyal Levy wrote today in Maariv, "When was the last time you saw people with a real smile?" In a country where you don't know on which side the next bomb is going to explode, a moment of national, exhilarating triumph is quite rare indeed.

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