Behind the scenes of Argentina cancellation: ‘Israel helped the Palestinian campaign’
Diplomatic officials view the cancellation of the World Cup warmup in Israel as an unprecedented public opinion victory for the BDS movement and the Palestinians, but those criticizing Culture Minister Regev for moving the match to Jerusalem are forgetting that Prime Minister Netanyahu invited the Argentine president three months ago to attend the match ‘in our eternal capital.’
The only chance of reversing the Argentine decision has to do with the grim financial situation of Argentina’s Football Associations, which will be required to pay the Israeli production company NIS 7.5 million (about $2.1 million) in damages—a sum it does not have.
The proposal raised by the Argentines to hold the match in Barcelona is unpractical. Moving the game from Jerusalem back to Haifa likely won’t change the players’ mind, and it’s hard to believe Israel will agree to such a humiliation after the US Embassy move festival.
The game’s cancellation is an unprecedented public opinion victory for the BDS movement and the Palestinians, in which they achieved more than they achieved in all the protest march on the Gaza border. According to Israeli diplomatic officials, this creates a very dangerous precedent that could spread beyond the world of sports and soccer. Israel has experienced quite a few cancellations of concerts, but the non-arrival of a national team like Argentina is a much more significant event.
Diplomatic officials say the successful Palestinian campaign enjoyed an Israeli contribution in light of the high expectations ahead of the game and the decision to move the match to Jerusalem, which they say worsened the problem.
According to a senior official, had the game remained in Haifa, the Argentine players wouldn’t have been subject to so much pressure. In addition, the talk about whether or not Argentina star Lionel Messi would shake hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev politicized the game, which is something the players wanted to avoid.
The officials accused Minister Regev of acting like a bull in a china shop, but she wasn’t alone. Netanyahu's associates, who criticized the minister for moving the game to Jerusalem, forgot that the prime minister himself had sent a letter on March 12 to his friend, Argentine President Mauricio Macri, saying he had instructed the relevant authorities to prepare for hosting the game in Jerusalem, “our eternal capital.”
Netanyahu had even sent Macri an invitation to attend the game as its guest of honor. “It would be a great privilege for me to host you in Jerusalem and reaffirm the growing friendship between our two countries. I hope to see you soon,” he had written.
According to Regev’s associates, Netanyahu's letter prompted Macri to intervene and convince the Argentine team to play in Jerusalem.
The prime minister was involved in the efforts to solve the crisis on Tuesday night, and even spoke to Macri twice, but the Argentine president made it clear to him that he had no influence on the matter—a puzzling response in light of his previous influence on the decision to play in Jerusalem.
Furthermore, it’s unlikely that a state’s president is incapable of influencing his country’s football association concerning a decision that could be interpreted as a surrender to terror and badly affects friendly relations with another country. This may have to do with the fact that Macri is preparing for elections this year and doesn’t want to appear as someone who pressured his country’s national team and harmed its chances of winning the World Cup.
Israeli officials say the flames were fanned by Palestinian Football Association head Jibril Rajoub. Israeli FA Association President Ofer Eini was expected to file an official complaint against Rajoub with the international football association, FIFA, claiming that he incited terror organizations and terrorists to threaten the footballers not to come to Israel.
Regev’s associates: It’s not her fault
Sources close to Culture Minister Regev are insisting that the Argentine team’s decision has nothing to do with the game’s move to Jerusalem, and are rejecting the attempts to blame her for the cancellation.
According to the associates, the pressures and threats on the players began as soon as reports emerged that the Argentine team would play a friendly in Israel, even before the game was moved from Haifa to Jerusalem. The players (Javier Mascherano, for example) and their family members (like Messi’s father) received personal threats, as well as images and videos showing bodies of Palestinian children.
The minister’s aides rejected attempts to blame Regev for insisting on moving the game to Jerusalem, as well as for the public debate over a possible handshake between her and Messi and his visit to the Western Wall.
“The attempt to point an accusing finger at the minister over the game’s move to Jerusalem and the handshake with Messi is detached from reality,” one of the associates said. “The Argentine team wanted to visit the Western Wall, and demanded that it would be shut down for the visit, and wanted to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to receive a blessing before the World Cup. The team never demanded that Netanyahu or Regev wouldn’t shake hands with Messi.”
Regev’s aides argued that the decision to call off the game was made by Messi himself, as he is the team’s strongman, he determines the squad and he approves the timetables. “President Macri needs Messi more than Messi needs President Macri,” one of the associates said.
Culture Ministry Director-General Yossi Sharabi defined the game’s cancellation as a first-class terror attack. “It’s a surrender to terror, which is bad for sports. Jerusalem was never the problem. They really wanted to come to Jerusalem. The difference between this event and the Giro d'Italia is the personal intimidation attempt on the players and their families.”
Is the Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem in danger of being cancelled too? That remains unclear, but it’s definitely an alarm bell indicating that political interference worsens the problem. The prime minister should make a decision to keep politicians like Miri Regev and Communications Minister Ayoob Kara away from the contest. They can watch it on television or, at the most, sit in the audience. Their involvement will do no good.
