Ahead of Sunday evening’s UEFA Nations League match between Israel and Ireland, the outrage surrounding hostile rhetoric and anti-Israel gestures adopted by the Irish team continues to generate fierce reactions across Israel. Slamming the Irish coach’s libels and plans to wear black armbands moments before the opening whistle, former national team captain Tal Ben Haim and Israeli reserve fighter Menashe Zalka published passionate statements on social media, called on the blue-and-white squad to bypass ceremonial handshakes with terror apologists and battle on the pitch for Israel’s fallen heroes, hostages, and national honor.
2+Menashe Zalka directly addressed inflammatory comments made by the Irish coach ahead of the fixture: “‘We are not playing with genocide, we are playing against genocide’—this is the sentence uttered by Ireland’s coach before the match against Israel. As an overt antisemite, he deliberately ignored the October 7 massacre and immediately adopted the Hamas narrative. Our national pride is not up for sale, especially not after laying to rest the finest of our friends, families, and soldiers who fell defending our people.” Zalka continued. “Therefore, I fully expect that there will be no handshakes with this manager, neither for the sake of ‘politeness’ nor under the guise of sportsmanship. The Irish announced they will wear black armbands tonight ‘in memory of the victims of the Gaza conflict’—a sanitized euphemism and codename for identifying with our Hamas enemy.”
“Tonight is not just another match; the opening whistle over national honor was blown long before players stepped onto the pitch,” Zalka emphasized. “Stand tall, with national pride and immense dignity, to show the ignorant on the other side that we do not bow down. We stand on the right side—the Jewish side fighting baby killers and rapists.” He concluded: “Today, more than ever, proud to be a Jew and a soldier of this country.” Former national team captain Tal Ben Haim also published a strongly worded rebuke: “As a proud Israeli and former captain of the national team, hearing the sheer ignorance displayed by the Irish leading up to tonight’s match is infuriating. The Football Association of Ireland has disgraced, cheapened, and corrupted this sacred institution. The Irish manager said his team is playing against genocide; I suggest he study demographics, educate himself, and ask what Gaza looked like before spreading lies.”
“Self-righteous Irish players offered to donate their match fees to Gaza—funds that never reach needy civilians and go directly to the Hamas terror organization that murders its own people. Oh, and I forgot to thank the Irish squad for holding a vote and graciously deciding to show up against Israel after all. Thanks a lot; truly appreciated,” Ben Haim mocked. “Thanks also to the goalkeeper whose starting spot at Southampton was taken by Daniel Peretz. Clearly this is personal, and he should work on his self-confidence instead of posturing as a humanitarian at our expense. You claimed you won’t shake hands, that you’ll wear black armbands, and won’t exchange pennants. We have zero interest in shaking hands with those who lend a hand to terror and advance dark agendas rooted in sheer ignorance.”
2+Ben Haim concluded with a passionate call to the Israeli squad: “Football is a universal language that brings people and cultures together. It is tragic to see how, through their own fault, they have turned the pitch into a political arena. A country whose own history is steeped in terror dares to lecture us—to lecture the most moral army in the world, which battles terror with values unmatched anywhere on earth. I am ashamed for the Irish team.”
2+“To our beloved players, I say: tonight you play first and foremost for our soldiers, our invincible heroes—those who fell and those who sacrificed the best years of their lives so we could live in Israel, and for all those whom the Hamas Nazis murdered, raped, and kidnapped. Tonight is not just another game; it is a match for our home, truth standing against darkness. Fight, win every tackle, win every battle, and run until you have no air left. Do not let us down. Am Yisrael Chai.”