Written by Rebecca Parsons
Surfers from around the world are flocking to Victoria, Australia, readying for the kickoff of the 2026 Championship Tour at Bells Beach. Among them is 2026 rookie Anat Lelior, the first Israeli surfer to ever qualify for the Dream Tour. Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, Lelior competed in the Challenger Series for the first time in 2025. Despite it being her first year on the Challenger, Lelior wrapped her season with impressive finishes at both Pipe and Newcastle, securing the final spot on the CT. Although she didn’t expect to qualify in her first crack at the CS, the 25-year-old is excited to represent Israel on the national stage and showcase her surfing at the world’s best waves. Here, Lelior shares how she first got into surfing, what the surf scene is like in Israel, and what she’s most excited about for her rookie season.
How did you first get into surfing?
I was lucky enough to grow up five minutes’ walk from the beach. Neither of my parents surf, and surfing was not really something close to my family other than the sea. When I was five years old, I asked my parents to go surfing. So, my father took me for a surf, and I immediately fell in love with it.
Unfortunately, my father is not the greatest teacher, so he forwarded me to a surf school where I really fell in love with surfing with both my siblings. We were kind of like a surf gang. We would go surfing whenever there were waves. When it was flat, we would go to the beach and just be around the ocean as much as we could.
What is the surf scene like in Israel?
It’s quite big, bigger than you would have thought. There are a lot of surfers nowadays in Israel, and most peaks can get quite crowded. There’s not a lot of surf, so when there is surf, everybody wants to get waves, so it can be a little bit aggressive in the water. Culture-wise, I would say it’s not really developed, but everybody is following the WSL, watching surf films, and is well updated with the surfing industry around the world.
Where do you surf at home and what are the waves like?
I typically surf in Tel Aviv. These days, when I go home, I don’t really drive as much as I would have when I was younger. But it’s usually just beach breaks, wind swells, and short period swells; we don’t necessarily have point breaks. It doesn’t ever get really good. It’s very inconsistent: It can be two months of no surf, or it can be a week of really big surf because of a storm. It’s never amazing, and it’s mostly just one to two turn waves.
When did you first start competing? What different contests did you do?
I think my first contest was when I was about eleven. I competed with a soft top, and I got second place. A year later, I was the Israeli national champion. For many years, it was my sister and me pretty much just competing for the title. And then we went to surf a Swatch Pro women’s only QS and my father realised we were pretty good because we managed to pass a couple of heats. Then we started doing contests more regularly around the age of 16 or 17. I think I did the full year of a QS for the first time when I was 18.
When did you know surfing was something you wanted to pursue on a professional level?
I think I really took it seriously when I was about 16. I was a little bit of a troublemaker when I was young, and it changed for me when I realised that if I wanted to be really good, then I had to take it seriously. So, I really started to put my head down and started working when I was 16 or 17.
What have been some of your best contest results over the years?
The best contest result I’ve had was one of my first wins, which was in Anglet in 2019. It was back in the day when the QS was international. I feel like that was the first time I competed really well and showcased my surfing. A recent result is the QS in Pantin – that was such a difficult competition because we competed in just one day. And I think the best result I’ve had is Pipeline. I don’t think anybody expected me to do well over there, but I just took every opportunity I could find and made it all the way to the finals.
What were some of the highlights from your first year on the Challenger Series?
My first semi-finals day in Ericeira; I was so overwhelmed with the amount of support I had. There were about 50 Israelis coming to see me on the beach, and I had a good cry before heading out to the semi-final. And again, reaching Pipeline and getting the lineup to myself, making barrels to pass heats, and competing against the best in the world. And sharing the lineup with Molly Picklum, Gabi Bryan, and Erin Brooks in the final was pretty mental.
Did you expect to qualify for the CT?
I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t plan on it happening this year. But this year, I really made a change in my competitiveness and how I learn. I felt like I grew a lot and matured. The moment they announced that I qualified, I was speechless. I’m here in Bells Beach, and I still don’t really understand that I’m part of the best twenty-four women in the world.
What are your thoughts heading into your rookie season?
I’m excited to compete around the best in the world. And to surf point breaks in good waves and get barreled. But the thing that I’m most excited about is the fact that the series that I watched my whole life, I will be part of, which is pretty crazy. The logistics of everything are making me nervous, but performance-wise, I’m pretty chill about it.
What is your goal for the upcoming year?
My goal for this year is definitely making it for next year. I’m going to do my best to showcase my surfing in good surf. I just want to prove to myself that I belong.
What do people back home think about you having a career as a professional surfer?
Everybody who is involved and in love with surfing as much as I am in Israel is very supportive. I’m getting multiple messages, and I didn’t even get to reply to most of them. I feel like Israel is still learning that this achievement is really big. I’m slowly being accepted as a woman who is a professional surfer, and that it’s definitely a job nowadays. But everybody’s been super supportive so far.
