Dribble, 6.2/Video editing: Ziv Steiner
Israel's women's team will go up tomorrow (Thursday) for a particularly charged match as part of the European Championship qualifiers.
The meeting with Ireland was supposed to take place in Israel, but the war forced Israel to host Riga in front of closed doors - which did not calm the spirits ahead of the match.
Five of the opposing team's players announced that they were not ready to play against Israel because of the war in Gaza, and the Irish Association backed them up and announced that they would not be fined.
Ireland will still take to the floor, but only for fear of receiving a large fine themselves - failure to show up will result in a five-year suspension from FIBA and a fine of 180,000 euros.
"It will be devastating for us," admitted the chairman of the union, John Fehn.
"We are not rich, but the real problem is that we will miss an entire generation of actresses, they will suspend us for five years and that makes no sense. We will miss an entire generation of actresses who can be an example for young girls."
Feehan added: "What is happening in Gaza is terrible and terrible, everyone knows. The question is whether the boycott of the game will change anything for the Israeli government, and in our opinion it will not - it will only destroy our international basketball for the next ten years. All our players, whether they came to Latvia or not , sympathize with Gaza, but the reality is that even if we make this gesture - it won't change anything. I'm not ready to destroy my industry for a gesture that won't have an impact."
As mentioned, coach James Walden will be missing five players who decided to boycott the match, in addition to a number of players who were defined as injured.
"We try to prepare for it like any game," he said.
"I don't want to go into details - some of the actresses are injured, others are studying, others have personal reasons."
In the Irish media there was quite a bit of criticism towards the team that chose, despite everything, to play against Israel - but it is clear to everyone that the players are in an almost impossible situation.
Lindsay Pitt, former captain of the Ireland rugby team, said: "It should have been a FIBA decision, there are bigger things than sport.
It is a very sensitive issue, and I am full of pride for the players who will not show up for the game."
Pitt even referred to the possibility that Ireland will not appear, and the heavy fine will be paid by the public: "In the past we were offered sponsorships, maybe we could raise the money."
Earlier this week, the former soccer star commented Gali Michael Dara McCauley for the charged match, and called for a complete boycott of Israel: "We have to do everything in our power not to show up for this game.
Boycotting the game against Israel - that's all that needs to be done.
I know some of the girls and know that there are important things from sports.
In ten years, we will all salute them for this decision.
If they play anyway, we'll remember them for the wrong reasons.” McCauley was one of 130 Irish athletes who signed a petition to boycott the game.
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Israel and Ireland have full diplomatic relations.
At the same time, the Irish overwhelmingly support the Palestinians, based on the theory that their struggle is the same as the Irish struggle against Britain over many years.
Even in the current war, the Irish line is clear: against Israel and its actions.
Towards the end of November, after 9-year-old Emily Hand - a citizen of Ireland - was released from captivity in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Leo Vardkar wrote: "An innocent girl who was lost - found and returned."
Not to mention that she was taken prisoner with chilling brutality by Palestinian terrorists.
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