Former Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball star Tal Brody formally joined the Likud's Knesset race on Tuesday morning at a press conference with party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu at the Likud's Tel Aviv headquarters.
"Tal put basketball on the map and he will help put Likud on the map once more," said Netanyahu at the gathering.
Brody had been rumored to run for months, but he waited to announce his candidacy until he determined what his chances were of entering the Knesset. He will face stiff competition in the December 8 primary from the Likud's current MKs and the many public figures who have recently joined the party.
Brody is best known for leading Maccabi to its historic win over powerful CSKA Moscow in the 1977 Euroleague basketball semifinal, which was seen as a defeat by Israel of the Soviet Union that armed and supported many of its enemies during the Cold War.
Brody will become the fourth former resident of the United States to enter the race, joining Netanyahu's former chief of staff Yechiel Leiter, Government Press Office director Danny Seaman and Legal Forum for the Land of Israel co-chairman Yossi Fuchs.
