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Reebok Demands Israel’s National Soccer Team Removes Logo From Jerseys Following BDS Threats
Fans display a Palestinian flag and an Israel flag during the France v Israel soccer match at Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France on Nov. 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
The American footwear and apparel company Reebok has demanded that Israel’s national soccer team remove its logo from team uniforms due to threats from supporters of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Reebok only began outfitting the national team last summer and even launched a campaign featuring the new uniforms designed by Israeli former soccer player Tal Shetach. The Boston-based company is said to have asked its local equipment supplier in Israel, MGS Group, to remove the Reebok logo from the kits and uniforms for Israel’s national soccer team, Israel’s N12 reported on Tuesday.
The Israel Football Association confirmed the news, adding that its emblem and the Israeli flag “will continue to be proudly displayed on all national team uniforms.” The association said it never had a formal deal with Reebok and that the global brand “seemingly gave in to embarrassing boycott threats that were completely irrelevant.”
“The association entered into an agreement with a local equipment supplier and took into account that the new uniforms could feature various sponsors, certainly more courageous than Reebok International,” it explained. “We are convinced that in the near future there will be sponsors who will see great privilege in these days to be part of the national uniforms.”
One Israeli soccer team in the Premier League that is also linked to MGS and Reebok, Hapoel Haifa, has not received similar demands from Reebok, according to N12.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which is Europe’s governing body of soccer, is preparing to hold an emergency vote this week on suspending Israeli teams from international soccer competitions, including next year’s World Cup, because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. On Monday, Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness called for Israel to be suspended from international soccer competitions. Last week, Turkish Football Federation President Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu wrote to FIFA, UEFA, and national soccer association chiefs urging them to impose a ban on Israel.
Israel’s men’s soccer team is set to play against Norway in Oslo on Oct. 11 in a qualifier for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and they have another qualifier game scheduled against Italy for Oct. 14.
The Norwegian Football Federation already said profits from the Oct. 11 match in Oslo will go to the international NGO Doctors Without Borders to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza. Klaveness, who also serves on UEFA’s 20-member executive committee, did not advocate for a boycott of the match, but said she believes sanctions should be placed on Israel.
“I work on the issue from a principled standpoint, but we will not boycott on our own. A boycott would only result in Israel going to the World Cup instead of us,” Klaveness said on Norwegian podcast “Pop and Politics.”
She added, “In general, we are now working for Israel to be sanctioned. We believe that they should be, and this is about upholding the rules. Personally, I believe that since Russia is out, Israel should also be out. As a football president you can have personal opinions, and I certainly have mine.”
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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.