While the Israeli media praised the national team’s performance in the 1-1 draw against Ireland in Serbia as a marked improvement over the 3-0 defeat a week ago, once again much of the coverage focused on the charged atmosphere surrounding the game.
The Irish players’ refusal again to shake hands and their decision to bow their heads when the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, was played was criticised as unsporting and hypocritical.
“Let the Irish stew in their hatred for us in their dressingroom and let’s hope we don’t get drawn against them in the future,” the Israeli commentator said just before the final whistle.
The panel members on Channel 12 television’s Morning News show on Monday were also critical.
“The hypocrisy of the Irish is unbelievable,” said one panellist. “Not long ago they shook hands with the Afghan national [cricket] side – that’s the same Taliban that oppresses and kills women. That’s okay but when it comes to the Jews it’s not okay. This is pure anti-Semitism.”
Another panellist suggested the Israel Football Association should lodge a complaint with Fifa and that Ireland should be banned from future competitions.
Another argued that the Irish behaviour was just the latest manifestation of a wider boycott against Israel that many Israelis were unaware of, that affected culture, academic and medical research and other areas, and she argued the actions of the Israeli government were not helping.
Coverage of the game in the Israeli media was somewhat subdued as the country on Monday marked, according to the Hebrew calendar, the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in October 7th, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage to Gaza.
“It happened again: Ireland’s players bowed their heads during Hatikvah,” was the headline in Ynet, the digital platform of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.
“Once again the Irish disgraced the anthem and did not shake hands,” wrote N12, Channel 12’s digital platform.
Israel’s largest-circulation daily newspaper, Yisrael Hayom, wrote about Irish “cheap provocations”.
[ Ken Early: At the end, Ireland’s players just wanted to get out of the nightmareOpens in new window ]
“Just like the first game, the most important thing for the Irish team was to show disrespect. In a series of petty and stupid gestures, including showing disrespect to Hatikvah, they ruined the sporting element of the game and came away looking small-minded.”
The popular Wallah! news website quoted Israel’s captain Dor Peretz, who said foreigners could not really understand Israel’s reality and suggested they should visit Israel and learn more before forming opinions.
There was widespread coverage in all the media outlets over Dor Peretz’s gesture after scoring Israel’s goal, when he kissed his black armband, worn by all the Israeli players last night, commemorating the October 7th victims.
Sport5 described the Irish behaviour as a “disgraceful spectacle”. It described the match as “another tense and ugly game” but said Israel looked substantially better and should have won after creating several chances in the second half.
The Sport One website noted Israel hit the woodwork twice in the second half, and said the Irish media themselves acknowledged Ireland were fortunate to escape with a draw.