"It felt like a battlefield": testimonies from the stands of Maccabi Haifa in the victory over Netanya Israel today

Last night (Monday) Maccabi Haifa registered an eighth league victory in a row, 0:2 over Maccabi Netanya.

The gap between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel BS returned to 4 points, with the latter going to Sami Ofer in the next round.

At the same time, the club found it difficult to concentrate only on winning and football, in light of the severe cases of violence against the team's fans by police officers in the stadium in Netanya and outside.

Last night, hundreds of complaints from fans who experienced violence were handed over to the management, with the things backed up by videos, some of which are difficult to watch, in which the police are clearly seen beating fans indiscriminately, including women and children.

In some of them, you can clearly see the firing of stun grenades towards fans stuck in the parking lot outside the stadium.

Haifa may transfer the materials to the Ministry of Defense for further treatment. Lena, a fan of the team, testified: "I've been going to soccer fields for 16 years and I've never seen anything like this.

I left halfway out of the stadium with a panic attack, anxiety and crying, with women and children crying hysterically next to me.

The police fired stun grenades non-stop outside and also two inside the stands and it felt like we were in the middle of a battlefield.

Not to mention a policeman who came and pushed fans aggressively because we were standing outside smoking a cigarette.

This is a shame for the Israel Police."

B., another fan who previously served in the Israel Police said: "As a former police officer, I was ashamed. This is not how I was brought up by the police and these are not the instructions I received to follow. The very entry into the stands was unnecessary because there was no unusual incident that could endanger the peace of the fans or the rest of the public that came overall to watch football. Children were beaten to death just because they were in the way of the policemen. It is not clear what the purpose of the entry was and at the end of the game it was the worst. I went out to see what was happening and I couldn't believe it. Policemen firing means of dispersing demonstrations, stun grenades against football fans? This is absolute madness. I saw And I attended events on the Temple Mount and in areas where much less force was used. The role of the police is to protect its citizens and not to beat them or fight them."

The police, for their part, continue to claim that there were disturbances that caused the use of force, a claim that the club rejects outright.

"There were no flares, no objects were thrown, we know when it is necessary to go in and act to ensure there is order. None of these things were fans. They came back with trauma for life," they said from the green club, "a complaint to the Mashesh is being considered."

In a sharp transition, from a professional point of view, Haifa are satisfied with last night's victory.

Praise was given to goalkeeper Roi Mishpeti for his ability and it seems that he will continue to be the first goalkeeper until the end of the season if he continues like this.

The other defensive players, Charon Sherry and Dean David, also received compliments.

Midfielder Dolev Haziza entered as a substitute and recorded the first minutes since he tore the hamstring tendon.

"It's gratifying, I missed the field a lot," said Haziza, "It's frustrating to sit out for so long. Now I'm back and I want to get back in shape to help my friends."

Captain Neta Lavie also entered as a substitute for one of his last games in the team before moving to the Japanese Gamba Osaka.

Now small details remain to be finalized regarding the transit fees that Osaka will pay to Haifa, which will be around 400-500 thousand dollars.

Lavie, for his part, will receive $4.5 million over the entire period of his contract in Japan, if and when he is signed.

Training in Osaka will begin on 9.1 and until then the Japanese will try to complete the deal, when the local league will start in February.

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