Don't Argue with Them

While the eyes of the world are on the athletes in the Tokyo Olympics, we've recently discovered that there are champions walking among us, right here on campus. Meet Gil Peled and Assaph Hanany, Tel Aviv University students and winners of the esteemed World Universities Debating Championship. Gil, a graduate student in physics and Assaph in applied mathematics, both members of Tel Aviv University Debating Society, beat all other teams in the "English as second language" category, coming out on top after 12 rounds of argumentation.

In the final stage of the competition, the debate dealt with the question: "Should governments plan their policies for the long term or focus on the current generation?" The Israeli students excelled in offering a convincing and reasoned answer to the question, scored the most points and were declared world champions. The competition was held online and was attended by 800 competitors, representing some 250 universities from 45 countries, including students from top universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge - as well as from countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations, such as Syria, Bangladesh and Malaysia. 

The Israeli team included about 30 students from seven universities: Tel Aviv University, the Technion, the Hebrew University, the University of Haifa, Ben Gurion University, Bar-Ilan University and the Open University, as well as the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

The Secret to Their Victory

The World Universities Debating Championship has been held since 1981. Its graduates include Irish author Sally Rooney (“Normal People”), United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. 

While they are both clearly up for the challenge of a good debate, Gil and Assaph agree when asked how they feel about their feat: “Having competed against students from leading universities in the world, we are proud of our championship and our achievement. It was a close race until the very end and there was a lot of tension. We managed to stay focused and, at the competition's most critical moments, we performed our best. The secret to our victory is the intensive preparation, our cooperation and all the experience that we have accumulated over the years when it comes to being able to identify and focus on the important question in any subject that is up for debate. Oh, and our position in the final debate was that governments should focus on long-term policy and avoid being fixed on the current generation only.”

“Not a Big Debater in Real Life”

“I joined the Tel Aviv University Debating Society five years ago, through a close friend,” says Gil. “I am not really a big debater in real life, but the Society introduced me to smart and interesting people. I made new friends and got to reflect on questions and subjects that I had never really thought much about before. Looking back, joining the debating society was a very good decision, and I highly recommend it to students who wish to deepen their worldview and knowledge in every field imaginable together with smart and enthusiastic people from all parts of campus.”

This is not their first competition: “We have been quite regular partners in competitions in recent years, and the partnership that we built has helped us with these accomplishments, along with great support from our coaches and fellow club members,” shares Gil.

Dan Lahav, a former member of TAU Debate, was recently chosen to be the chief adjudicator of the competition - as the first Israeli to receive this honor. He commented the win, “Tel Aviv University’s Debate Club has always been an Israeli power in the field. We have now proved that we are also an international power to be reckoned with.”