An Israeli football player has been arrested, fired from his club in Turkey and deported from the country after he dedicated a goal to the hostages taken by Hamas more than 100 days ago on Black Saturday.
Turkish police detained Israeli player Sagiv Jehezkel and questioned him on Monday over a message he displayed on his wrist during a top-tier match alluding to the passage of 100 days since the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, state media said.
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said prosecutors were investigating Jehezkel on a charge of ‘inciting people to hatred and hostility’ for displaying a note written on his bandaged wrist saying ‘100 days, 7.10’, alongside a Jewish Star of David emblem.
Jehezkel, 28, held his clenched fist aloft to display the message after scoring a goal for his team, the southern Turkish club Antalyaspor, against Trabzonspor in Turkey’s Super Lig on Sunday.
Antalya prosecutors launched an investigation into Jehezkel ‘due to his ugly gesture supporting Israel’s massacre in Gaza after scoring a goal’ Tunc said on social media platform X.
Jehezkel has been released pending a trial, and Israeli media reported that a private plane has been sent from Israel to pick him and his family up so they could return him home.
Turkish media reported that his club’s boss, Sinan Boztepe, fired him and said: ‘Our national values are above all else. No matter how much the player brings to the club. We will terminate his contract.’
Despite the severe consequences, Israeli media reported that Jehezkel did not regret making the gesture, and said: ‘It was a gesture for the Israeli hostages in Gaza, a humanitarian gesture.
‘It was important to me to point out that they have been in captivity for 100 days. I didn’t want to provoke anyone. I know Turkish feelings, it was just a gesture.
‘I only wrote the number 100 and symbolized half a heart with my hand.
‘This shouldn’t incite anyone. On the contrary, it should inspire empathy for the people who have been trapped there for so long.
Fighters from the Islamist group Hamas stormed through Israeli communities on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 240 hostages.
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Israel needs to protect him asap
💯
Not nice naw