Summary of Maccabi Tel Aviv's 0:1 victory over AEK Larnaca in the Conference League qualifier (Sport1)
Daniel Peretz's impending move to Bayern Munich is causing many in Germany to raise eyebrows, and not only because the Maccabi Tel Aviv goalkeeper is not considered a household name on a global scale. Some of the club's fans have been busy in the hours since reports of an agreement between Perez and Bayern on the political issue.
Pro-Palestinian fans of the club opposed the signing of an Israeli footballer, and some even pored over the goalkeeper's history on social media and found posts expressing support for Benjamin Netanyahu in one way or another. For example, Peretz retweeted a tweet by Netanyahu in May 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, in which he thanked countries for expressing support for "Israel's right to self-defense against terrorist attacks."
"It's clear what Peretz's attitude is when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," wrote one fan, while another threatened: "As soon as you signed an Israeli footballer, you lost millions of fans across the Arab world."
An explosive combination in the locker room? Daniel Peretz (Photo: Danny Maron)
Bayern fans rummaged through the archives and found "proof" that Peretz supports Netanyahu
If Peretz's move to Bayern is completed, he will collaborate with Noussair Mazraoui, a Moroccan national team player known over the years as a strong supporter of the Palestinian struggle. During Operation Guardian of the Walls, Mazraoui, then an Ajax player (known for its ties to Judaism and Israel), published a cartoon showing an IDF soldier pointing a rifle at a Palestinian child alongside the caption "Free Palestine."
The cartoon in question, posted on Mazraoui's Instagram account, caused a real storm. Ajax fans accused him of anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel, and some called for him to be expelled from the team. Ron Eisenman, a Dutch Jew from the Center for Information and Documentation of Israeli Jews, joined the call for Mazraoui's release from the team, saying: "A footballer calling for the liberation of Palestine on his private page is unethical and unacceptable. He has damaged Ajax's legacy and honor and should be punished."
Ajax eventually decided to restrain, but Mazraoui did not stop making political statements. On one occasion, he shared a post by wrestler Khabib Nurmagomedov in which he wrote: "You don't have to be a Muslim to support Gaza, you just have to be human."
The cartoon in question published by Mazraoui (Photo: screenshot, from Instagram)
Not afraid of political statements. Noussair Mazraoui (Photo by Getty Images, Youssef Loulidi/Fantasista)
At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Mazraoui was part of a group of Morocco players who celebrated qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals draped in the Palestinian flag.
Either way, some Bayern fans fear that the combination of the "anti-Israel" Mazraoui and Peretz who "supports Benjamin Netanyahu" will be explosive – but it is doubtful whether these fears are realistic. Israeli legionnaires have collaborated more than once in the past with footballers from Arab countries. For example, Iranian Alireza Jahanbakhsh played with Tomer Hamad and Biram Kayel at Brighton, and later collaborated with Ofir Marciano at Feyenoord. Sean Wiseman also played with Morocco national team player Jawad El Yamiq, who, like Mazraoui, was one of the players who waved the Palestinian flag during the 2022 World Cup. These are just some of the examples.
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