Israel honors Patriots' Robert Kraft with 'Jewish Nobel'
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is currently in Israel with 15 current and former Patriots players for his third “Touchdown in Israel” trip, in which he leads tours of both some of the world’s great religious sites.
This year’s biennial excursion is with current players like Stephon Gilmore and Stephen Gostkowski, as well as former stars Ty Law, soon to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Vince Wilfork and Drew Bledsoe.
And on Thursday, Kraft was honored in Jerusalem.
‘Jewish Nobel’
During an event with several political and business leaders and heads of Jewish organizations, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented Kraft with the 2019 Genesis Prize, known as the “Jewish Nobel.”
Kraft was honored for his philanthropy and commitment to combatting anti-Semitism.
Via the Associated Press, there is also a $1 million award that’s given with the prize; organizers said Kraft will donate his award money to continuing the fight against anti-Semitism.
Kraft was chosen as this year’s winner back in January, and at the time he seemed like an easy choice: He’s made around 100 trips to Israel beginning with his honeymoon with his late wife, Myra, in 1963, and also is the major benefactor of American football in the country, among other charitable efforts.
But Kraft’s arrest in February on solicitation of prostitution charges in Florida, an affair that has become messy as Kraft has both fought the misdemeanor charges and the release of police video from inside the day spa where he allegedly paid for sexual services, made his choice as Genesis Prize recipient a bit complicated.
Kraft has kept a fairly low profile since being charged; he was not made available to media at the Genesis gala.
Sixth winner
Kraft is the sixth person to receive the Genesis Prize, which began in 2014 as a partnership between the Israeli prime minister’s office, the Genesis Prize Foundation, and the Jewish Agency, a nonprofit with close ties to the Israeli government.
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, actor Michael Douglas, violinist Itzhak Perlman, sculptor Anish Kapoor and actress Natalie Portman preceded Kraft. Portman did not attend the event last year because she did not want to seem like she supports Netanyahu, which was an embarrassment to the foundation.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been given a lifetime achievement award.
Before the awards gala, Kraft and his delegation of players met with Netanyahu, presenting him with a signed Patriots helmet and posing for a photo with the Lombardi Trophy the team won at Super Bowl LIII.
More from Yahoo Sports:
