Outrage in Israel as National Soccer Player Is Arrested Overseas for Displaying Anti-Hamas Message
Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel left Turkey on Monday, hours after he was detained for allegedly inciting hatred after he expressed solidarity with people held hostage by Hamas terrorists during a top-flight league game.
The Antalyaspor player was released from custody following questioning by police and court officials, a Turkish official said.
It was not immediately known whether he was released pending a trial or if the accusations against him were dropped.
Court officials in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Earlier, Turkish media reports said Jehezkel was released pending a trial for inciting hatred. The reports later moved away from that storyline with no explanation.
The 28-year-old Israel international had been detained for questioning late Sunday after he displayed a bandage on his wrist with the words “100 Days 7.10” next to a Star of David.
That was a reference to Oct. 7, the day Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking many others hostage.
Jehezkel told police he was simply calling for an end to the war.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said late Sunday that the soccer player was under investigation for “openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility.” Tunc posted on social media that Jehezkel had engaged in “an ugly gesture in support of the Israeli massacre in Gaza.”
The gesture was deemed to be provocative in Turkey, where there is widespread public opposition to Israel’s military response to the Hamas attacks.
Antalyaspor suspended Jehezkel from the team and announced that it was speaking to the club’s lawyers about the possibility of terminating his contract.
During his questioning by police, the player denied accusations that he engaged in a provocative act, the private DHA news agency reported.
“I am not pro-war,” DHA quoted him as telling police. “I want this 100-day process to come to an end. I want the war to end.”
“I have never engaged in anything related to politics since my arrival,” Jehezkel continued. “I have never disrespected anyone since the day I arrived. The point I wanted to draw attention to was [the need] for an end of the war.”
The Turkish Football Federation condemned what it described as a gesture that “disturbed the conscience” of the Turkish public.
Jehezkel’s detention, meanwhile, sparked outrage in Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on the international community and sports groups to take steps against Turkey and its “political use of violence and threats against athletes.”
“Whoever arrests a football player for a show of solidarity with 136 captives who are more than 100 days with the terrorists of a murderous terrorist organization, represents a culture of murder and hate,” he said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called Jehezkel’s detention “scandalous.”
“In its actions, Turkey serves as Hamas’ executive arm,” he said in a post on X.
In a related incident, Istanbul top league side Basaksehir announced Monday that it has launched a disciplinary inquiry into its Israeli player, Eden Karzev, after he posted a message on social media marking the hostages’ 100 days in captivity with the hashtag “BringThemHomeNow.”
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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