Mollaei tells Sagi Muki: "Israel was presented to me as one that murders people"

Saeid Mollaei stood on the mat at the Pais Arena in Netanya and told a crowd of around 400 people something he says he once believed without question: that Israel was a country that "murders people."

"Israel was presented to me as one that murders people," the Iranian-born judoka said at the "Judo Without Walls" event, according to ONE. "I was told negative things about it constantly, but ultimately I discovered he is an athlete like any other athlete" — a reference to Sagi Muki, the Israeli world champion he was once ordered never to face.

The two men's story goes back to the 2019 World Judo Championships in Tokyo, where Mollaei arrived as the defending champion in the -81kg category. Under pressure from the Iranian regime, which does not permit its athletes to compete against Israelis, he was instructed to withdraw rather than risk meeting Muki in the semi-final — an episode that caused an international outcry and led the International Judo Federation to suspend Iran's federation.

Muki went on to win gold in Tokyo that year. Mollaei, fearing for his safety, fled and eventually settled in Germany before being granted Mongolian citizenship, competing under Mongolia's flag at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he won a silver medal.

What followed was an unlikely friendship, forged first online and then in person on the judo circuit, that has since drawn interest from Hollywood: Deadline reported in March that Fox, working with production companies Fulwell and Sipur, is developing a documentary about the two athletes' story, tentatively titled "Blood Brothers."

In Netanya, Mollaei went further than simply describing a friendship, telling the crowd how deep the propaganda he grew up with had run. "I grew up taught, unfortunately, with negative values toward Israelis," he said, according to ONE. "I understood that the Israeli public is not the enemy, but friendly to me."

He closed with a wish that stretched beyond the two of them. "My dream now is to bring these two flags together in Iran one day," Mollaei said. "We must fight for freedom in our lives and for this connection."

The Netanya event doubled as something of a homecoming for Muki, who was born and raised in the city and announced his retirement from competitive judo in February. He now runs a judo club for children there, and the reunion with Mollaei — once a forbidden opponent, now a central figure in his life story — played out just a few kilometres from where his own career began.