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An Israeli Soccer Star Stood Up for Hostages in Turkey; Then He Was Attacked
Israeli soccer star Sagiv Jehezkel arrives in Tel Aviv from Turkey. Photo: Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
It should have been a straightforward story that included facts, relevant reactions, and background.
But these key elements were either omitted or distorted when some media outlets reported on the detention of an Israeli soccer player in Turkey, due to his on-the-pitch gesture of solidarity with Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The reports of CNN and The New York Times painted a picture that legitimized the actions taken against Sagiv Jehezkel, who, until last week, played for Turkish team Antalyaspor.
Here are the core components of the story:
On January 14, after scoring a goal during a Super League match in Antalya, Jehezkel displayed a message written on his bandaged wrist alongside a Jewish Star of David, reading “100 days, 7.10.”
The message alluded to the passage of 100 days since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and some 240 taken hostage. Most mainstream media outlets rightly understood it as a solidarity message with the hostages.
Jehezkel was, however, detained, questioned by Turkish police, and suspended from his club. The Turkish Justice Minister condemned his tribute as “inciting people to hatred and hostility.” His team said he had acted “against the national values.” Jehezkel, who had already returned to Israel, rejected the accusations and according to Turkish media said he had meant to convey a message supporting an end to the war.
Outraged Israeli officials denounced Turkey. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized it as a “de facto executive arm of Hamas.” Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said Turkey was “working against humane values and sports values.”
Turkey’s actions come against the backdrop of its fierce criticism against Israel since October 7. Turkish President Erdogan has called Israel a “terror state” and said that Hamas terrorists are “freedom fighters.”
But this is not how the story was necessarily covered.
CNN has misrepresented Jehezkel’s message, omitted Israel’s criticism, and added flawed context.
1. The network labeled his solidarity gesture a “protest.”
2. CNN completely ignored Israel’s strong criticism against Turkey, while including the reactions of Antalyaspor and the Turkish justice minister.
The omission of the Israeli foreign minister’s comments is all the more questionable because, apparently, the reporters had been following the Foreign Ministry’s statements. They chose to include the following sentence: “On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Jehezkel is returning to his home country.”
3. In an attempt to provide “context” or “balance,” CNN created a false symmetry between a non-violent solidarity tribute and incitement to violence:
This isn’t the first time that a soccer player has become embroiled in controversy over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Earlier this month, Algerian Youcef Atal, who plays for French club OGC Nice, was handed a suspended sentence and a €45,000 fine ($49,000) following a social media repost about the conflict.
According to Reuters, which cited French newspaper Nice-Matin, Atal republished a 35-second video by a Palestinian preacher who called on God to send “a black day over the Jews.”
4. CNN did include a lengthy background on Israel-Turkey relations. But it called Israel’s actions in Gaza “carnage” and quoted an expert attempting to explain away the Turkish reaction:
Jehezkel’s gesture was misunderstood and misrepresented, Lindenstrauss added, which is “a clear indication that Turkey and the Turkish public have very little understanding of Israel’s interpretation of the events that unfolded on October 7.”
But there was no mention that Erdogan had publicly stated his staunch support for Hamas and its actions.
The New York Times also misrepresented Jehezkel’s message, and felt the need to provide problematic context instead of just reporting the facts.
The newspaper called Jehezkel’s gesture in support of hostages a “pro-Israel” message, creating the impression that Turkey was acting against the player’s political stance.
As mentioned above, other mainstream media — such as The Washington Post and the BBC — reported Jehezkel’s gesture as a plea for the hostages, not a politicized call.
But there’s more.
While The New York Times did provide the necessary background on Turkey’s support for Hamas, it also gave a “balancing” context by equating Jehezkel to other soccer players who had been suspended or fired after sharing violent anti-Israeli calls online.
The paper did not mention why Dutch player El Ghazi had his contract terminated by his German club, Mainz.
Instead, it linked to reports in the Qatari-owned network Al Jazeera that also failed to mention the reason: El Ghazi shared a post early in the conflict with the genocidal call “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.”
HonestReporting has sent a complaint detailing these flaws to The New York Times.
The wire services included all the necessary elements in their reportage, so any writer or editor could and should have seen what to include in the story.
Why, then, did the outlets mentioned above remove criticism of Turkey, “balance” it or provide background that doesn’t adequately explain the prevailing Turkish zeitgeist?
Instead, their stories downplay or even legitimize the appalling Turkish actions against an Israeli Jew who merely voiced solidarity with innocent people held by a terror group.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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