{"id":90271,"date":"2025-08-20T18:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/?p=90271"},"modified":"2025-08-20T08:23:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:23:46","slug":"jerusalem-media-star-and-ex-footballer-leaves-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/jerusalem-media-star-and-ex-footballer-leaves-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Jerusalem media star and ex-footballer leaves Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yaakov Buzaglo is leaving Israel. The television personality, father of Maor Buzaglo and the colorful former footballer who helped turn The Buzaglos<\/em> series into a national hit, loaded nine suitcases and bought a one-way ticket with his wife Hani, aiming for a better future overseas at the age of 68<\/p>\n

Yaakov Buzaglo and nine suitcases abroad<\/h3>\n

One can treat this with half a smile, as a childish whim, yet the event touches us all. \u201cHello, I\u2019m leaving,\u201d sang Chava Alberstein in Hanoch Levin\u2019s timeless song, always relevant because every Israeli has the fantasy of escaping abroad \u2014 even if reality quickly intervenes: \u201cNot that I have any illusions about London\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Buzaglo senior could have been a star at Hapoel Jerusalem \u2014 he had plenty of talent \u2014 but he slipped through the cracks and tasted glory mainly as the father of Maor Buzaglo, who dazzled fans on the pitch. The father cleverly managed his son\u2019s career, swimming with sharks like Ya\u2019akov Shahar and Alona Barkat. But football ends, TV ratings fade, and now the patriarch of the Buzaglos has decided his future lies outside Israel<\/p>\n

Leaving Israel in search of a new future<\/h3>\n

Do Israelis really have a future abroad? Life here is tough, exhausting, sometimes maddening \u2014 yet to leave everything behind and not plan to return? Time will tell what awaits Yaakov Buzaglo, but it is safe to assume it won\u2019t be easy<\/p>\n

Because Israel may be complicated, but it is still home. \u201cTo your seed I will give this land,\u201d God promised Abraham in the Book of Genesis more than 3,300 years ago. The miracle of the state\u2019s rebirth after a century of Zionism was not random. To abandon it now? With antisemitism rising, with the struggle for survival abroad just as brutal, and with Europe\u2019s past still a haunting memory, walking away is not the solution<\/p>\n

(Record set: nine heart valve replacements at Hadassah<\/a>)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jerusalem and Israel will always remain home<\/h3>\n

\u201cThere is no other place,\u201d sang the band Mashina<\/em> \u2014 and it would not have become a hit if it weren\u2019t true. Abroad is wonderful for a weekend, to breathe different air, to spend some cash and disconnect. But real life can only be lived in Israel<\/p>\n

So bon voyage, Mr. Buzaglo. We will miss the witty sayings, the mischievous smile, and the traces of an accent that recall Mimouna festivities. But we won\u2019t mourn too much \u2014 because you will be back soon. Al Al Israel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yaakov Buzaglo, former Hapoel Jerusalem player and reality TV celebrity, packs nine suitcases and heads abroad at 68<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":90264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"9333","_seopress_titles_title":"Jerusalem media star and ex-footballer leaves Israel","_seopress_titles_desc":"Yaakov Buzaglo, former Hapoel Jerusalem player and reality TV celebrity, packs nine suitcases and heads abroad at 68","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10327,9314,10336],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-90271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking","8":"category-main-item","9":"category-sport"},"acf":{"subtitle":"Yaakov Buzaglo, former Hapoel Jerusalem player and reality TV celebrity, packs nine suitcases and heads abroad at 68"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerusalem-online.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}