BUENOS AIRES —Football star Lionel Messi won’t play in Israel. Argentina has called off a friendly match against the Israeli national football team, which was slated for Saturday in Jerusalem following Palestinian pressure and death threats against the Argentinian players and their families.
Israel’s Embassy in Argentina confirmed Wednesday that he game was canceled, citing unspecified “threats and provocations” against Lionel Messi.
The match at Jerusalem’s Teddy Kollek Stadium was to be Argentina’s last warmup before they kick off their World Cup campaign in Russia on June 16.
Argentine media reported that the reason for the cancellation was threats made against Messi and his wife but also against other players of the national team.
In recent days, Palestinian fans of Messi have been encouraged to burn replicas of his team jersey and all pictures of him if he goes through with playing in the friendly match against Israel in Jerusalem next weekend.
Palestinian Football Association head Jibril Rajoub penned a missive to Argentinian Football Association Claudio Tapia last week, complaining that “the match now is being played in order to celebrate the ‘70th anniversary of the State of Israel.’ ”
The game was originally scheduled to occur in Haifa, but received funding from Israeli authorities to move it to Jerusalem.
Rajoub expressed outrage that Messi would not cave in to pressure to forego the game against the Israeli team, and told reporters that he would galvanize millions of Arab and Islamic fans around the world to boycott him. “He is a big symbol, so we are going to target him personally, and we call on all to burn his picture and his shirt and to abandon him,” he told reporters.
Rajoub has attempted to get international football and sports organizations to impose sanctions against Israel, but has not been successful.
The Israel Football Association said that it has not yet received an official notice about the game being canceled and that it has been in “direct contact” with the heads of the Argentine Football Association and of FIFA following the reports. The Association attacked Palestine Rajoub, saying that his threats have “crossed every red line.”
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman lamented the decision, writing: “It’s too bad the soccer knights of Argentina did not withstand the pressure of the Israeli-hating inciters, whose only goal is to impinge our basic right to self-defense and bring about the destruction of Israel. We will not yield before a pack of anti-Semitic terrorist supporters.”
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan declared : “What happened here, truthfully, is less about the boycott. There’s a good friendship with Argentina, terrific relations. Due to violent incitement and threats by Jibril Rajoub and the whole bloodied jerseys charade, fear rose for the personal safety and the players started to fret over being physically assaulted in Jerusalem. Regretfully, before they inquired in depth, they preferred to let the whole thing go. This is a submission to violence and terror that the Palestinians are trying to use, but let’s look at the big picture and not lose proportions.”
Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan said “terrorism must be fought against,” calling on Netanyahu to cancel Rajoub’s entry permit to Israel. “Rajoub is a despicable enemy,” he said, “[Israel] must declare him and the entire Palestinian Authority as enemies.”