Turkiye releases Israeli footballer accused of incitement to hate over Gaza

Istanbul, Turkiye – – AFP

A Turkish court released an Israeli footballer who had been detained over accusation of incitement to hate by displaying an offensive message referring to Israel’s assault on Gaza during a first division match.

Sagiv Jehezkel, 28, held up a bandage on his wrist reading “100 days. 07/10” next to a Star of David when he celebrated scoring a goal for Antalyaspor against Trabzonspor on Sunday.

Turkish prosecutors launched a criminal investigation for alleged “incitement to hate and hostility” and his club tore up the forward’s contract for “exhibiting behaviour that goes against our country’s sensitivities”.

Israel furiously condemned Jehezkel’s detention, sending already strained relations between the two regional powers to a new low.

“Turkey has become a dark dictatorship, working against humane values and sports values,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, whose country had earlier advised Israeli citizens to leave Turkiye as a security precaution.

“I call on the international community and the international sports organisations to act against Turkey and against its political use of violence and threats against athletes.”

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant accused Turkey of “acting like the executive branch of Hamas”.

It was not immediately clear if a trial would be held against the player in absentia, or if he intended to return to Turkiye.

– ‘I am not pro-war’ –

The message on Jehezkel’s bandage referred to the 100 days since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which was marked on Sunday.

In testimony to the police, Jehezkel said he wanted to call attention to the prisoners taken by Hamas and in no way intended to support the war.

“I am not a pro-war person,” the private DHA news agency reported him as saying.

“After all, there are also Israeli soldiers taken prisoner in Gaza. I am someone who believes that this 100-day period should end now. I want the war to end. That’s why I showed the sign,” he reportedly told the police.

Since October 7, Israel has vowed to destroy the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and launched a relentless military assault on Gaza that has killed over 24,000 people, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.