Danny Hakim Uses Martial Arts to Bridge Divides in Conflict Zones

Danny Hakim holds a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald from December 26, 1959, in his hands. He points to a photograph showing himself as a ten-month-old baby alongside his three-year-old brother. The caption reads: "The little one seems to think he won't get any of the Christmas treats his brother is enjoying at Bondi Beach."

Hakim sits on the 32nd floor of one of the towers in Tel Aviv's Azrieli Center, part of the empire built by his late father-in-law, David Azrieli. Among Azrieli's legacies is the Azrieli Foundation, which funds projects Hakim has dreamed of his entire life.

Danny Hakim is a karate master with an extraordinary life story. Born the second of four children to Jewish refugees, his family fled Cairo for Australia in 1956 after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser began inciting anti-Jewish sentiment. Once a respected family in their homeland—with medieval ancestors including the Sephardic rabbi Yehuda Samuel Halevy Hakim—they arrived penniless in Adelaide, where a garage became their temporary shelter. Years later, they moved to Sydney, near Bondi Beach.

His grandmother gave young Danny a karate course as a gift—so he could learn to defend himself.

The attack on the Hanukkah celebration in mid-December did not come as a shock to Hakim. The assault brought back memories of his school days, when he faced antisemitism from classmates. His grandmother, whose family had fled Odessa after repeated pogroms, gave him a special gift for his bar mitzvah: membership in a karate club. Her reasoning was simple—he needed to know how to fight back.

But that wasn't always enough. "In 1977, a Palestinian activist at Macquarie University denied the Holocaust," Hakim recalls. When he and 20 Jewish friends went to protest, they were attacked by 150 armed people. Despite serious injuries, Australian authorities did nothing, he says.

Karate, however, was a different story. Hakim's closest friends were two boys—one with Iranian roots, the other Lebanese. "In karate, none of that mattered," he says. This realization shaped him, as did a year-long stay in Israel in 1977, where he trained to become a youth instructor. That same year, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made his historic visit to Israel—an event once thought impossible.

In 1983, Hakim traveled to Japan to continue his training under karate master Hirokazu Kanazawa. Once again, he saw how irrelevant background was in the dojo. "Here, it's about respect," he explains. "It starts with taking off your shoes, bowing to your master, and bowing to the hall."

A Fight Against a Palestinian

In 1997, as Hakim tested for his 5th dan, he found himself facing Durgham Khalil, a Palestinian. Both were nervous. "We had respect for each other," Hakim says. "Karate demands respect, self-control, and harmony. We both passed." The same scene repeated in 2003 for their 6th dan.

The death of his father in 1998 marked a turning point. Hakim left Australia and emigrated to Israel, where he soon founded "Budo for Peace," an organization centered on karate's core values. Today, 23 clubs participate in the project.

In 2002, Hakim asked Khalil if he would support joint training for young Palestinian and Israeli karate students. Khalil agreed—but only on neutral ground. At the next opportunity, the 2003 Karate World Cup in South Africa, Khalil backed out. No joint session took place. Yet when Shadya Zaobi, a 17-year-old Muslim girl from Hakim's team, won gold for Israel, both Israelis and Palestinians celebrated. The moment inspired the award-winning documentary "Shadya," which Hakim helped produce.

Danny Hakim wanted to go beyond combat sports, so he founded "Sports for Social Impact" (SIS), an initiative under the Azrieli Foundation. The project harnesses the power of diverse sports—from athletics and boxing to tennis—to drive positive social change: fostering peace and understanding, advancing women's and girls' rights, creating opportunities for at-risk youth, and even supporting cancer patients through sports.

Hakim has since transformed his NGO "Budo for Peace" into "Sport for Social Change", a bold venture with ambitious goals. Partnering with organizations across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, he aims to launch international competitions—including a long-distance women's run from Beirut to Jerusalem. As early as next year, the "Abraham Games" could debut, a sporting event Hakim is championing in his new role as chair of Israel's Paralympic Committee. While initial plans focus on countries like Morocco and the Arab Emirates, he hopes Palestinian groups will eventually join. Until October 7, 2023, Hakim still counted friends and partners in Gaza; today, he takes solace in knowing many escaped the war.

When the 2025 Maccabiah Games, the major Jewish sporting event, were canceled due to the Gaza war, Hakim pivoted to organizing a gathering of 60 women, many in senior sports leadership roles. His newly founded group, "Women Champions for Change", brought together participants via video link from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Morocco, and even Iran. Women, Hakim explains, achieve 30% more in conflict resolution than men—yet they remain far more vulnerable in crises.

For years, Hakim has been tireless in his mission. How did the terror attack at Bondi Beach, where he grew up, shape his activism? "There are only two things we must do," he says: strengthen security and invest in education. He points to the karate club at Bondi Beach, where he trained and which still draws people from all walks of life. "Sport builds trust from the ground up," Danny Hakim insists. "No matter what politics does."