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Israeli Soccer Star Booted From Turkish Club for Highlighting Plight of Hamas Hostages Lands in Tel Aviv
Israeli soccer star Sagiv Jehezkel arrives in Tel Aviv from Turkey. Photo: Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
The Israeli soccer player whose professional contract was abruptly terminated by a Turkish club after he drew attention to the plight of Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza landed in Tel Aviv on Monday evening, where he gratefully declared, “there is nowhere like Israel.”
The arrival of Sagiv Jehezkel in his homeland brought to an end a nightmare that began on Sunday, after the Israeli winger scored an equalizing goal for his team, Antalyaspor, against Trabzonspor in the Turkish league contest.
After scoring in the 68th minute, Jehezkel, who only signed for Antalyaspor last September, ran to the touchline where, as part of his celebration, he displayed a bandage wrapped around his wrist to the camera bearing the words “100 days. 07/10” alongside a Star of David — a reference to the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel.
Predictably, Jehezkel’s gesture resulted in a furious reaction in Turkey, where the government of President Recep Tayyip Erodgan enthusiastically supports Hamas, which it describes as a “liberation” organization. Insults targeted at Jehezkel circulated widely on social media while a group of Antalyaspor fans gathered at the club’s training ground bellowing the slogan, “Zionist dog.” The club’s chairman, Sinan Boztepe, quickly dismissed Jehezkel from the team. “I watched with sadness and surprise that Sagiv Jehezkel acted against the sensitivities of Antalya, Antalyaspor, and our country,” Boztepe posted on X/Twitter. Separately, the Caglayan Group, a company which sponsors the team’s jersey, said it would withdraw its support unless Jehezkel was dismissed from the team.
Following Jehezkel’s departure from Turkey on a private plane, Turkey’s Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, expressed satisfaction in an X/Twitter post.
“Antalyaspor’s Israeli football player Sagiv Jehezkel left our country as of 17.15,” he wrote. “I would like to point out once again that Turkey is always on the side of all the oppressed and the Palestinian people.”
Prior to his departure, Jehezkel was taken into custody where his phone was confiscated. Following his release, Turkey’s Justice Minister, Yilmaz Tunc, said an investigation had been launched into the player’s “ugly action supporting Israel’s massacre in Gaza.” It is unclear whether Jehezkel would face criminal charges in Turkey were he to return there.
Speaking to broadcaster NTV following the incident, Jehezkel said he “did not act to incite or provoke anyone.”
“I am not a pro-war person,” he said. “There are Israeli soldiers held hostage 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 message here.”
Israeli politicians slammed the Turkish action. “When there was an earthquake in Turkey less than a year ago, Israel was the first country to stand up and extend aid that saved the lives of many Turkish citizens,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant wrote on X/Twitter. “The scandalous arrest of the soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel is an expression of hypocrisy and ingratitude. Through its actions, Turkey serves as the executive arm of Hamas.”
As well as Jehezkel, another Israeli soccer player in Turkey is facing disciplinary proceedings. The Istanbul club Basaksehir said it would act against against the Israeli midfielder Eden Kartsev for harming “sensitive values” in Turkey. Kartsev was also briefly detained on Monday about a post on Instagram highlighting the plight of Israeli hostages, state media reported.
The post Israeli Soccer Star Booted From Turkish Club for Highlighting Plight of Hamas Hostages Lands in Tel Aviv first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany’s Halt to Arms Exports to Israel Is Response to Gaza Expansion Plans, Chancellor Says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
Germany’s decision to curb arms exports to Israel comes in response to Israel’s plan to expand its operations in the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.
“We cannot deliver weapons into a conflict that is now being pursued exclusively by military means,” Merz said. “We want to help diplomatically, and we are doing so.”
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s plans to expand military control over the enclave have pushed Germany to take this historically fraught step.
The chancellor said in the interview that the expansion of Israel’s operations in Gaza could claim hundreds of thousands of civilian lives and would require the evacuation of the entire city of Gaza.
“Where are these people supposed to go?” Merz said. “We can’t do that, we won’t do that, and I will not do that.”
Nevertheless, the principles of Germany’s Israel policy remain unchanged, the chancellor said.
“Germany has stood firmly by Israel’s side for 80 years. That will not change,” Merz said.
Germany is Israel’s second-biggest weapons supplier after the US and has long been one of its staunchest supporters, principally because of its historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust – a policy known as the “Staatsraison.”
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Newsom Calls Trump’s $1 Billion UCLA Settlement Offer Extortion, Says California Won’t Bow
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference, accompanied by members of the Texas Democratic legislators, at the governor’s mansion in Sacramento, California, U.S., August 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Saturday that a $1 billion settlement offer by President Donald Trump’s administration for UCLA amounted to political extortion to which the state will not bow.
The University of California says it is reviewing a $1 billion settlement offer by the Trump administration for UCLA after the government froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding over pro-Palestinian protests.
UCLA, which is part of the University of California system, said this week the government froze $584 million in funding. Trump has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over anti-Israel student protests.
“Donald Trump has weaponized the DOJ (Department of Justice) to kneecap America’s #1 public university system — freezing medical & science funding until @UCLA pays his $1 billion ransom,” the office of Newsom, a Democrat, said in a post.
“California won’t bow to Trump’s disgusting political extortion,” it added.
“This isn’t about protecting Jewish students – it’s a billion-dollar political shakedown from the pay-to-play president.”
The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests and in doing so violated Jewish and Israeli students’ civil rights. The White House had no immediate comment beyond the offer.
Experts have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president’s threats. The University of California says paying such a large settlement would “completely devastate” the institution.
Large demonstrations took place at UCLA last year. Last week, UCLA agreed to pay over $6 million to settle a lawsuit by some students and a professor who alleged antisemitism. It was also sued this year over a 2024 violent mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters.
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Trump Nominates State Dept Spokeswoman Bruce as US Deputy Representative to UN
FILE PHOTO: U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce speaks during her first press briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was nominating State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce as the next US deputy representative to the United Nations.
Bruce has been the State Department spokesperson since Trump took office in January.
In a post on social media in which Trump announced her nomination, the president said she did a “fantastic job” as State Department spokesperson. Bruce will need to be confirmed for the role by the US Senate, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority.
During press briefings, she has defended the Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions ranging from an immigration crackdown and visa revocations to US responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, including a widely condemned armed private aid operation in the Palestinian territory.
Bruce was previously a political contributor and commentator on Fox News for over 20 years.
She has also authored books like “Fear Itself: Exposing the Left’s Mind-Killing Agenda” that criticized liberals and left-leaning viewpoints.
In a post after Trump’s announcement, Bruce thanked him and suggested that the role was a “few weeks” away. Neither Trump nor Bruce mentioned an exact timeline in their online posts.
“Now I’m blessed that in the next few weeks my commitment to advancing America First leadership and values continues on the global stage in this new post,” Bruce wrote on X.
Trump has picked former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz to be his U.N. envoy. Waltz’s Senate confirmation for that role, wherein he will be Bruce’s boss, is still due.
Waltz was Trump’s national security adviser until he was ousted on May 1 after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chat among top Trump national security aides on military strikes in Yemen. Trump then nominated Waltz as his U.N. ambassador.