‘When it comes to sports, I think there should be no space in sporting events for those who do not share our values,’ European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef told Politico, responding to a question about whether Israeli athletes should face sanctions over the ongoing war in Gaza.
‘These spaces are big stages for political messages, big stages where we should promote values that we stand for in the Union, and where we should give space to those who have similar values to us in general,’ said European Commissioner from Malta Micallef.
‘Sport is a tool that we use to promote peace, through which we promote human rights’
‘On the other hand, the sport movement is autonomous, and they make their own decisions,’ Micallef noted, adding that ‘But we have a duty and we have a responsibility to speak about these issues and to make our feelings known.’ ‘Sport is a tool that we use to promote peace, through which we promote human rights,’ he concluded.
Mounting Pressure on Israel
In recent weeks Israel has come under growing pressure from European leaders after intensifying its military operations in the Gaza Strip. The campaign aims to dismantle the Hamas terrorist organization and rescue 58 hostages still held since their abduction on 7 October 2023.
Last week, following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas announced a review of the bloc’s trade partnership with Israel, citing humanitarian concerns and potential violations of international law.
‘We completely reject the direction taken in the statement, which reflects a total misunderstanding of the complex reality Israel is facing,’ Israel’s Foreign Minister posted on X late Tuesday.
Ten EU countries—including Hungary—did not support the proposed review of relations. Israel’s Foreign Ministry expressed his gratitude to those nations.
European national leaders have also increasingly criticized Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and have hinted at punitive steps. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that Israel’s attacks ‘can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism.’ Prominent SPD politicians, including Rolf Mützenich and Norbert Walter-Borjans, have called for halting arms exports to Israel to pressure the government over the humanitarian situation.
Last week, France’s Emmanuel Macron, the UK’s Keir Starmer, and Canada’s Mark Carney issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s handling of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. They called on Israel to immediately halt military action in the enclave and allow more aid in, warning of ‘further concrete actions in response’ if Jerusalem refuses.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez went as far as calling for Israel’s exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest. Despite this, Israel finished second in the competition. The Israeli contestant, Yuval Raphael, is a survivor of the October 7 Nova Music Festival massacre, where he hid under dead bodies for eight hours to escape.
Boycotts Against Israel Are Not New
Israel has long faced boycott campaigns. The BDS Movement, short for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, is a global Palestinian-led initiative that began in 2005. Israel views it as an international effort to delegitimize and ultimately dismantle the Jewish state, disguised as human rights advocacy.
Efforts have also repeatedly targeted Israel’s participation in international sports. President of the Palestinian Football Association Jibril Rajoub has made multiple attempts to have Israel expelled from FIFA.
Critics of Israel often cite Russia as precedent to sanction Israeli athletes. Following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Olympic governing body and FIFA quickly sanctioned Russia, suspending teams and clubs from competition.
This Has Nothing to Do with Sport
Now it seems some European leaders—and the European Union itself—are beginning to adopt similar tactics. The key difference, however, is the false equivalence being drawn: Israel is not the aggressor. It is a democratic nation engaged in self-defence against a terrorist organization that, on 7 October 2023, murdered at least 1,200 civilians and kidnapped around 250 more.
That’s why European leaders should not deny a sovereign nation—one that has been brutally attacked—the right to define its own military necessities in defence of its national security and strategic objectives. Besides, politics has little place in sport to begin with.
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