[4][5][6] The family lived in Gush Etzion in the settlement of Neve Daniel, south of Jerusalem, and in the moshav Havatzelet HaSharon in central Israel.[6] He found that, as an athlete, his three years of compulsory military service slowed his progress in fencing because it limited his time considerably, and took a "mental and energetic toll.[3] In April 2010, at 15 years of age and younger than many of his opponents, he won a bronze medal in the men's épée 2010 World Cadet Fencing Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.[20] In addition, in December 2012 he won a bronze medal in the junior epee Young Lions World Cup in Espoo, Finland, behind Sergey Bida and Lorenzo Buzzi, in a competition with 170 fencers.[20] In January 2014, he won the gold medal at the junior epee Alpe Adria World Cup in Udine, Italy, in a competition with 147 fencers.[25] In February 2016 he won a Men's Épée bronze medal at the Peter Bakonyi World Cup in Vancouver, Canada, in a competition with 192 fencers.