“I am celebrating my sixth Israel Independence Day since making aliyah, and moving to Israel was the best decision my wife and I ever made – to live according to the Jewish calendar in the Jewish homeland,” says Sylvan Adams, the Canadian-born real estate developer and philanthropist. “I remember the day I received my Israeli ID card as an Israeli citizen, which was a very emotional moment.”
Adams’s parents were Holocaust survivors, and his father, after escaping from Europe in 1944, arrived in pre-state Israel and served in Israel’s War of Independence. His mother came as far as Israel’s shores in 1947, but the ship carrying her and other refugees from Europe was refused entry by British forces. Those on board were sent to an internment camp in Cyprus for six months until the state was declared by David Ben-Gurion in 1948.
Adams’ parents met in Montreal, where he grew up. “My parents both left Israel for various reasons,” says Adams, “but I have returned and completed my family’s journey by coming home. Every day I am here, every time I walk in the streets, on the Tel Aviv boardwalk on the Mediterranean, or in the marketplace, whether I am in Jerusalem or the Negev or the Galilee or the Golan – I feel such a privilege to be Israeli and live in our Jewish homeland. I feel that our lives are more meaningful because we are here.”
Upon immigrating, Adams decided to devote his life to promoting his adopted homeland through sports and culture. He arranged Israel’s hosting of the Grande Partenza, the first three stages of the three-week Giro d’Italia Grand Tour bicycle race in 2018; brought Madonna to Tel Aviv for a cameo performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019; and owns the Israel Premier Tech professional cycling team, the first professional team from Israel in any sport to compete in its sport’s highest league, the 18 team WorldTour.
This means that IPT races in all of the sport’s biggest competitions, including cycling’s most famous race, the Tour de France. Adams has arranged for triathletes from around the world to gather in Tiberias in November for the first-ever Middle Eastern Regional Ironman Championship.
“I am devoting this chapter of my life to promoting the State of Israel,” says Adams, “the country that I love, the ancient home of the Jewish people, and showing to a worldwide audience the true face of Israel, which is that of a normal, Western, diverse, tolerant and importantly, safe democracy. My slogan is: ‘I am just getting started.’”
Adams hopes to eventually bring to Israel the “Grand Depart,” the big start of the Tour de France with its television audience of 2.6 billion viewers.
He is also currently assembling a Middle Eastern bid for soccer’s 2030 World Cup, which would include four countries: Israel, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. “This would be the biggest event we could possibly imagine ever coming to Israel,” he notes.
Sylvan Adams smiles and declares, “As Shimon Peres used to say, ‘There is no room for small dreams.’ I couldn’t be prouder to be an Israeli.”