{"id":448742,"date":"2026-05-19T03:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T03:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/448742\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T03:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T03:11:12","slug":"spain-defends-soccer-star-yamal-over-israeli-criticism-of-palestinian-flag-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/448742\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain defends soccer star Yamal over Israeli criticism of Palestinian flag display"},"content":{"rendered":"

JTA \u2014 Spain\u2019s government is defending soccer star Lamine Yamal after Israel\u2019s defense minister accused Yamal of inciting \u201chatred\u201d against Israel for waving a Palestinian flag during his team\u2019s celebrations following a title win.<\/p>\n

Yamal, 18, whose father is Moroccan, is a phenom on the FC Barcelona team. He waved the Palestinian flag while riding in an open-top bus during FC Barcelona\u2019s celebrations after winning Spain\u2019s top professional soccer league title, La Liga, on May 11.<\/p>\n

Following the parade in Barcelona, which drew roughly 750,000 supporters, Yamal posted a photo of himself waving the flag on his Instagram account, which has over 42 million followers.<\/p>\n

The display prompted sharp criticism from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who tweeted that Yamal had chosen to \u201cincite against Israel and foster hatred while our soldiers are fighting the terrorist organization Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katz called on FC Barcelona to distance itself from Yamal\u2019s actions and \u201cmake it unequivocally clear that there is no place for incitement or for support of terrorism,\u201d according to a translation of his remarks by Politico.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

Following the display, Barcelona\u2019s coach Hansi Flick told reporters that it was something \u201cI don\u2019t normally like,\u201d adding that he had spoken to Yamal and that it was \u201chis decision,\u201d according to ESPN.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPalestinian artists paint a mural depicting football player Lamine Yamal waving a Palestinian flag during the Catalans\u2019 title parade, on the rubble of buildings destroyed during the war, at Shati (Beach) refugee camp in Gaza City on May 13, 2026.(Omar AL-QATTAA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez forcefully rejected Katz\u2019s criticism in a post on X, writing that those who considered waving a national flag to be \u201cinciting hatred\u201d had either \u201clost their minds or have been blinded by their own ignominy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLamine has merely expressed the solidarity with Palestine that millions of Spaniards feel,\u201d S\u00e1nchez continued, according to Politico. \u201cYet another reason to be proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spain is one of Europe\u2019s most outspoken critics of Israel, with the country officially recognizing Palestinian statehood in May 2024 and permanently withdrawing its ambassador to Israel in March amid the Iran war.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Spain was also among four other European countries to boycott the Eurovision song competition over Israel\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n

Beyond Spain, tensions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have also surfaced across European soccer, with England\u2019s Aston Villa Football Club prohibiting Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from attending a match last year amid security concerns. Officials said that decision was spurred by sweeping violence that unfolded around a Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax match in Amsterdam in 2024.<\/p>\n

Last month, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the US special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism, told JTA that the United States will bar individuals from attending the upcoming World Cup who are accused of fostering antisemitism in their home countries.<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tWhich gorgeous bird do you prefer?\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

THIS MONTH ONLY: Join our reader support group for as little as $6\/month and receive an exclusive tote bag featuring one of Israel\u2019s native birds.<\/p>\n

Choose between the\u00a0Duchifat (orange), Israel’s national bird, or the Shaldag (blue), a beloved symbol of the Israeli landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a member of the Times of Israel Community,\u00a0you’ll also enjoy:<\/p>\n


\nAn ad-free experience of our site and podcasts.
\nExclusive access to award-winning films via DocuNation.
\nWeekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin ToI Community & claim my bag\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tCLAIM YOUR BAG\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\tYou’re a dedicated reader\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re really pleased that you\u2019ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month. \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.<\/p>\n

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven\u2019t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.<\/p>\n

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n

Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JTA \u2014 Spain\u2019s government is defending soccer star Lamine Yamal after Israel\u2019s defense minister accused Yamal of inciting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[47774,85,46,43,141082,19711,2727],"class_list":["post-448742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-palestinian-flag","tag-soccer","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}