Two Israeli footballers playing for first division clubs in Turkey find themselves accused of inciting hatred for showing their support for hostages held in the Gaza Strip, on the occasion of the hundredth day of conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas .
Released Monday following his police custody while awaiting his trial, Sagiv Jehezkel, a 28-year-old player from the Antalya club (South), was arrested Sunday evening after the match of the Turkish Süper Lig for wearing a wrist bandage reading “100 days. 07/10” – the date of the massacres committed by Palestinian Hamas in Israel and the start of the war in Gaza. The incriminated player was, however, able to leave Turkey at the end of the day, according to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya who announced it on the “X” network. Israel had announced earlier that it would send a plane to repatriate him.
Another Israeli player in the Turkish championship, Eden Karzev, 23, also finds himself in trouble with his Istanbul club, Basaksehir, for having brandished a sign on Instagram on which was written in English: “100 – Bring them back to home NOW”. The Basaksehir club, known for its proximity to the Turkish presidency, announced the opening of a disciplinary investigation after this publication, says the NTV television channel.
“Dark dictatorship”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted strongly to the arrest of Sagiv Jehezkel and assured that he would return home “today”. “Turkey has become a dark dictatorship, which goes against human values and sporting values,” accused the head of Israeli diplomacy Israel Katz. “Whoever arrests a footballer for an act of identification with 136 people kidnapped, in the hands of a murderous terrorist organization for more than 100 days, represents a culture of murder and hatred,” he added. Israel Katz called on “the international community and international sports organizations to act against Turkey and its political use of violence and threats against athletes. Today it is Sagiv Yehezkel, tomorrow it will be another athlete ” he predicted. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for his part, accused Turkey of “acting as the executive branch of Hamas”.
It is unclear if or when a trial in absentia might take place against Jehezkel. Three Israeli players are under contract with Turkish clubs: in addition to Sagiv Jehezkel and Eden Karzev, Ramzi Safouri – an Israeli Arab – also plays in Antalya. Israel had called on its nationals to leave Turkey immediately after the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip because of the very strong sympathy for the Palestinian cause in that country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly called Israel a “terrorist state”
“I want the war to end”
Sagiv Jehezkel, arrested at the end of the match and excluded from his team, defended himself before the police from any provocation or any lack of respect, according to NTV. “I did nothing to provoke anyone. I am not for war. There are Israelis held hostage in Gaza,” he assured, according to this private television channel, who claims to have had access to the content of his interrogation by the police. “I have never disrespected anyone since I was in Turkey. I want the war to stop. That’s why I showed this sign,” at the end of the match, he said. is it defended?
According to Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç, the Antalya prosecutor’s office has “opened an investigation for ‘public incitement to hatred’ due to his odious celebration in favor of the massacre committed by Israel in Gaza.” The player’s short message, which refers to the hundred days that have passed since the bloody attack launched on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, was interpreted by Yilmaz Tunç as a testimony of support for Israeli military operations carried out in retaliation. in the Gaza Strip.