Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Israeli judoka Or Sasson on Saturday for winning an Olympic bronze medal in Rio on Friday, telling Sasson he is “the true face of Israel.”

In a call aired live on Channel 2 Saturday night, the prime minister told Sasson that “every boy and girl saw not just a great athlete but also a man of values,” an apparent reference to Sasson’s professionalism in the face of an unpleasant encounter Friday with his defeated Egyptian opponent, Islam El-Shahaby in the first round of the tournament. “You showed the true face of Israel, the beautiful, proud face of a strong country that seeks peace.”

El-Shahaby refused to shake hands with Sasson, or even bow in mutual respect. The Egyptian was ordered back to the floor to bow, was booed by the crowd, and later said he was quitting judo. The incident made international headlines.

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Netanyahu told Sasson and Channel 2 that the encounter demonstrated how “alongside the development of ties with regional countries, there remains a lot of work to be done in the face of the awful propaganda [in the Arab world] that has been used against us for decades. This work will happen, God willing.”

Asked directly about the incident, Netanyahu said Sasson’s behavior was admirable and representative of Israel. “He won, he stretched out his hand,” the prime minister said of the 25-year-old Jerusalemite. He showed “the beautiful, strong face of Israel.”

Later on Friday, Sasson beat Cuba’s Alex Maxell Garcia Mendoza to win the bronze medal in the men’s over-100kg competition at the Rio Games.

It was Israel’s second bronze medal of the games, following female judoka Yarden Gerbi’s bronze on Tuesday.

“You’ve shown that if one wants something enough, the dream is achievable,” Netanyahu told Sasson Saturday, adding that he made “an entire nation happy.”

Sasson thanked the prime minister for his kind words, saying he was proud of his country.

“It is a great privilege to represent the beautiful face of Israel,” Sasson told Netanyahu.

Very sad. Egyptian Judoka Islam El Shehaby refuses to shake hands with Israeli Ori Sasson after losing. https://t.co/vZYZZZhItq — Raphael Gellar (@Raphael_Gellar) August 12, 2016

President Reuven Rivlin also congratulated Sasson on Saturday, telling him the entire country was proud of him.

“Ori the Jerusalemite, my champion… You wanted it and you were capable. We are all so proud of you,” Rivlin told him in a phone call.

“You’ve brought honor to the country in such a clear and gentlemanly way. To go and shake the hand of your Egyptian opponent is something all of Israel and all of Egypt is talking about, and here too you’ve won,” Rivlin told Sasson.

Sasson, a two-time European silver medalist who turns 26 on August 18, had lost his semifinal fight to France’s Teddy Riner, the event’s outstanding performer, who went on to retain his gold medal.

In stark contrast to El-Shahaby’s behavior, Riner shook hands warmly with Sasson at the end of the encounter, and whispered some words of congratulation to the Israeli for his performance.

The International Olympic Committee set up a disciplinary commission to look into the hand-shake snub.

“Things happen in the heat of the moment that are not acceptable,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “We believe the Olympic movement should be about building bridges, not erecting walls. There’s absolutely no excuse for it.”

He acknowledged that sometimes athletes can’t bring themselves to shake hands with their competitors. “It’s a shame if that happens,” Adams said.

The International Judo Federation called it a sign a progress that the bout even took place between the two athletes. “This is already a big improvement that Arabic countries accept to (fight) Israel,” spokesman Nicolas Messner said in an email. The competitors were under no obligation to shake hands, but a bow is mandatory, he added.

Even though El Shehaby ultimately bowed, “his attitude will be reviewed after the games to see if any further action should be taken,” Messner said, adding that the ethics commission of judo’s governing body would review the incident after the Olympics.

Ofir Gendelman, Arabic language spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called the incident “shocking.” In a Twitter post, he said it “goes against the spirit of Rio 2016,” writing in Arabic said that “sports are not the field for politics and extremism.”

Egypt’s Olympic Committee distanced itself from what El Shehaby did, saying he was “alerted before the match to abide by all the rules and to have sporting spirt during his match with the Israeli player.”

“What the player did after the match, and not shaking hands with his rival, is a personal action,” the committee said in a statement.

Similar incidents have happened before between Israeli and Arab judo athletes. At the quarterfinals of the 2011 judo Grand Slam in Moscow, Egyptian Ramadan Darwish refused to shake hands with Israeli Arik Zeevi. The next year, Darwish again declined to shake hands with Zeevi after beating the Israeli in their quarterfinal match at a tournament in Dusseldorf.

On Thursday, Moutaz Matar, a TV host of the Islamist-leaning network Al-Sharq, had urged El Shehaby to withdraw.

“My son, watch out. Don’t be fooled, or fool yourself, thinking you will play with the Israeli athlete to defeat him and make Egypt happy,” he said. “Egypt will cry; Egypt will be sad and you will be seen as a traitor and a normalizer in the eyes of your people.”

Egyptians clearly were divided before the match over whether El Shehaby should compete or withdraw, and there was a mixed reaction on social media afterward. Many blamed him for embarrassing the country, although some felt sympathy for El Shehaby, saying he was put under a lot of pressure.

In a Facebook post, journalist Galal Nassar said: “As long as you agreed to play an Israeli champion in the Olympics, you should have exchanged the greeting.”

He wrote that El Shehaby’s move backfired, and the Israeli athlete ended up with more sympathy. “We have lost in terms of sports and politics,” Nassar said.

AP contributed to this report.