As if there wasn’t already enough heat surrounding Ireland’s basketball meeting with Israel in Latvia on Thursday evening, the comments of Dor Saar, one of the Israeli squad, have added yet more fuel to the fire.
Speaking to Israel’s official basketball site, which noted that the team isn’t “officially talking about the Irish and their behaviour lately”, Saar, a United States-based student, said: “It’s known that they [Ireland] are quite anti-Semitic, it’s not a secret, so we are expecting an intense game. We need to show that we’re better than them and to win. We speak about it between ourselves, we know that they don’t love us so we will leave everything on the court, as always. And especially in this game.”
Basketball Ireland responded with no little fury to Saar’s comments, branding them, in a statement to the Irish Independent, as “inflammatory and wholly inaccurate”, saying that they had raised her remarks with Fiba, the International Basketball Federation.
Fiba, meanwhile, have said that they will look into online posts by the Israeli federation which featured photos of the Israeli Defence Force’s mixed gender Bardelas battalion, dubbed the Cheetahs, visiting the team in the build-up to the game, one showing an assault weapon lying at the side of the court where they were training.
Gaza aid group halts distribution as Israel says roads leading to sites are ‘combat zones’
The Encampments review: Taut, disciplined documentary about Palestine protests at Columbia University
Pro-Palestinian detainee in Israel: ‘How they treated us is nothing compared to how they treat even Palestinian children’
UN demands investigation as at least 27 Palestinians are killed near Gaza aid site
The Cheetahs include several female soldiers who have been active in Gaza since October. “We are moved by the connection between the Cheetahs unit and the Israel women’s basketball team, which reflects the support of civil society for the IDF,” said Nir Galili, chief executive of the team’s sponsor, Sonol Energy.
Amiram Halevi, president of Israeli basketball, confirmed the team’s link-up with the IDF, saying that they had taken part “in a number of activities and events throughout the country in co-operation with them” and were “happy” to welcome them ahead of their European Championship qualifier against Ireland.
“The situation is not easy,” said Israeli captain Eden Rotberg. “I personally had friends who were murdered and it has a very big impact, but in the end this is our job, sport heals, we are coming prepared and each of us know what she has to do here. There is no reason that we will not win.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here
