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Tennis Officials Ignore Pressure to Cancel Israel’s Upcoming Davis Cup Matches in Canada
Israeli athletes competing in the Davis Cup 2025 Qualifiers Israel vs. Germany. Photo: IMAGO/Paul Zimmer via Reuters Connect
Tennis officials are ignoring demands by hundreds of anti-Israel activists to cancel a Davis Cup match-up with Israel slated to take place in Halifax, Canada, next month.
The Davis Cup – the world’s largest annual international team competition in the sport — is organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). As a member of the ITF, Tennis Canada is a nonprofit that leads the growth, development, and promotion of tennis and events related to the sport within Canada, including the Davis Cup matches in September. Israel and Canada are both scheduled to compete on Sept. 12 and 13 at Scotiabank Centre in a series of matches that will determine which country advances to the 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers.
Both ITF and Tennis Canada said it will not ban Israel from competing in the matches, despite pressure to do so.
“We recognize this is a highly complex situation that goes far beyond sport. However, Israel has not been excluded from international sporting events, and it has not been suspended by the International Olympic Committee,” an ITF spokesperson said in a statement to The Algemeiner. “Across tennis, careful consideration is given to the participation of teams and players representing every nation, and the safety of all players, tournament staff, and supporters is always paramount at every event. We will continue to work closely with Tennis Canada in relation to this event.”
In an open letter published on Monday, which The Algemeiner has obtained a copy of, more than 400 Canadian and Canada-based scholars, coaches, athletes, Olympic medalists, sports journalists, and sports officials called on Tennis Canada to cancel the matches with Israel in September. Among the letter’s signatories, 106 are based in the Atlantic Canada region, where the matches will take place.
The anti-Israel activists, including three United National Special Rapporteurs, argued in their letter that it is “unconscionable” to allow Israeli athletes to participate in the matches in light of the Jewish state’s alleged “ongoing genocide in Palestine” during the Israel-Hamas war. They also called on the Canadian government and Tennis Canada to “forbid Canadian athletes to compete against Israeli athletes at the Davis Cup and all other international events.”
The letter additionally urged Canadian officials to follow other nations who “refuse to legitimize Israel’s crimes” by pulling out of international sports competitions in which Israel is participating. Just last week, Jordanian tennis player Abdullah Shelbayh withdrew from a tournament in Greece to avoid facing a competitor from Israel.
“Sport is an important space for engendering national sentiment. For this reason, it has, both in the past and today, played an essential role in both promoting national sentiment tied to genocide and in producing national sentiment essential for dismantling apartheid states,” the letter stated in conclusion. “As such, this is an important moment for Sport Canada and Tennis Canada to promote social justice and stand on the right side of history … sport sanctions against the nation [of Israel] are an essential tool for demonstrating Canada’s ongoing disapproval of Israel’s actions.”
In June, Canada issued sanctions against Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for “inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.”
In response to Monday’s letter, Tennis Canada said the matches with Israel scheduled for September will continue to take place as planned.
“Tennis Canada acknowledges the ongoing and deeply complex situation in the Middle East,” it said in a statement to The Algemeiner. “As a national sports organization, our mission is to promote the sport of tennis and create opportunities for players and fans to engage with the game in a spirit of respect and inclusivity. Our focus remains on ensuring a safe, fair, and professional competition for all athletes, staff, volunteers, and spectators.”
The organization added that it will work closely with ITF and authorities “to ensure this event is conducted in accordance with international sporting standards and with the well-being of all participants as our top priority.”
In a post on X, the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) applauded Tennis Canada and the ITF for not caving to the pressure and for “providing opportunities for athletes to compete while ensuring the event remains safe and focused on tennis.”
“A small mob of extremists cannot be allowed to decide who plays tennis in Canada,” the CIJA added.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.