By Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 11:29 p.m., Updated 1 hour ago
Sagiv Jehezkel (left). Imago / Panoramic
A legal investigation against Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel of Turkish club Antalyaspor has been opened after a celebratory message referring to Israel.
An Israeli footballer who posted a message on Sunday referring to the conflict between Israel and Hamas during a Turkish first division championship match was arrested and expelled from his team and is under investigation for “public incitement to hatred». «The Antalya prosecutor’s office has opened a judicial investigation against Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel for “public incitement to hatred” due to his heinous celebration in support of the massacre committed by Israel in Gaza», Announced Turkish Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunç on the social network X.
Author of a goal during a meeting on Sunday in the Turkish Süper Lig, the Antalyaspor player, who also has 8 caps with the Israeli national team, brandished the message “100 days. 07/10» written on a bandage on one of his wrists. This short message, referring to the hundred days that have passed since the bloody attack launched on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, is interpreted by the Turkish Minister of Justice as a testimony of support for Israeli military operations launched in retaliation in the Gaza Strip.
The Turkish club accuses him of having “acted against the values of our country”
«We will continue to support the oppressed Palestinians“, wrote the Turkish minister, denouncing a “genocide» underway in Gaza. The Antalyaspor club announced that it had excluded its Israeli player, whom it accused of having “acted against the values of our country“. Since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a traditional ally of the Palestinian cause, has repeatedly described Israel as “Terrorist state“, considering that Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the European Union and many countries including the United States, was a “group of liberators».
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip have left at least 23,968 dead, mainly civilians. The unprecedented attack launched on October 7 by Hamas on Israeli soil left around 1,140 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data.
