A few weeks ago: Beitar Jerusalem plays in Ashdod. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s right-wing extremist security minister, is also a guest in the Beitar fans’ stands. The Ultras cheer Ben-Gvir and hug him. And they chant racist chants against Arab Israelis.
These are chants that have been heard even more frequently since October 7, 2023 than before, says Matan Segal, director of the organization “Kick It Out Israel”: “Even before the war, racism in Israeli football was increasing, especially after the start the Netanyahu government and the shift to the right in society. But since the start of the war, the situation has become more serious: many fans are insulting Arab players as terrorists. Chanting is particularly common in the stadiums Hear things like: ‘The Israeli army must win’ and ‘We’re burning down your village’.
Attacks on demonstrators
La Familia, a formative Beitar Jerusalem fan group, is considered one of the largest right-wing extremist networks in Israel. A few days after the Hamas terrorist attack in October 2023, members of La Familia stormed a hospital near Tel Aviv and rioted. A Hamas fighter was allegedly treated at this hospital, but the report turned out to be false.
Some members of La Familia also served as soldiers in the Gaza war, posing with symbols of the Beitar football club in front of destroyed buildings. And the Ultras also play a role in domestic politics. They are said to have attacked left-wing demonstrators at rallies against Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform.
An advocate for the fans
Israeli activist Matan Segal says an approach that might also please Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir: “If we look back ten or fifteen years: Back then, Ben-Gvir represented some Beitar fans as a lawyer. But also other right-wing extremist and nationalist politicians are connected to Beitar. If they wanted to increase their profile, they would show up at the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.”
The origins of Beitar Jerusalem date back to the 1930s. The association was initially a meeting place for so-called “Oriental Jews”, i.e. Jewish immigrants from Arab states, explains political scientist Jan Busse from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich: “That means that these were primarily people who had a social tendency to live in Israel were rather disadvantaged because the founders of the state were primarily Jews of European descent. And since Beitar existed, there has been a very, very strong anti-Arab, anti-Muslim attitude, especially during the years of… “The founding of the state also competed strongly with the Palestinian citizens of Israel, for example for low-wage jobs.”
Support for Netanyahu
In the early years of the State of Israel, Beitar established itself as a gathering place for Jewish nationalists. Fans helped with political mobilization. For example, in 1977 for Menachem Begin, Israel’s first conservative prime minister. Or most recently for Benjamin Netanyahu.
But Beitar’s ultras go even further and work with right-wing radical organizations. Many of them reject any relationships between Jews and non-Jews, says Jan Busse: “A blatant example in this context is the Lehava organization. It was sanctioned by the EU in April 2024 for serious human rights violations. And there actually are There are very close overlaps in personnel. That many La Familia members are also members of Lehava.”
Bnei Sakhnin enemy image
Racist hostilities against Arab Israelis are also increasingly being documented in fan groups of other clubs that are considered to be more liberal. One of their enemy images is Bnei Sakhnin, the most important Arab club in the Israeli professional league.
At a game in September, ultras from Hapoel Be’er Sheva with poles stormed towards the Bnei Sakhnin fan block. They feel provoked because Sakhnin supporters previously disrupted the Israeli anthem. The game was canceled.
Projects against violence
And at other clubs, after October 7, 2023, the clubs are also trying to find creative solutions to avoid tensions, says author Jan Busse: “And it is the case that at Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Netanya, for example, the club management feared that There could have been anti-Arab calls during the minutes of silence. Unfortunately, you hear “Death to the Arabs” very, very often in the stadium. And to prevent that, you have one minute of silence let the stadium applaud for a long time.”
Football in Israel has long been considered a symbol of coexistence. Sometimes there were three or four players of Arab origin in the national team’s starting eleven. One of the most prominent: Dia Saba from Maccabi Haifa. His wife called for more empathy for children from Gaza after October 7, 2023. Dia Saba then received death threats and was temporarily no longer used in the national team.
Arab Israelis under great pressure
It is one example of many for the highly sensitive debate in Israel, says historian Amir Theilhaber: “And that Israeli Palestinians are under enormous pressure not to speak out. Or rather, that statements are very quickly misconstructed or seen as supporting terrorism.”
Amir Theilhaber also works for the New Israel Fund. This NGO supports civil society projects in Israel, including the “Kick it Out” football project. In recent months, fan groups and clubs have also taken a stand against racism on several occasions. But the fines that the Israeli Football Association imposes on clubs with racist fans are often small.
Laws are being undermined
Amir Theilhaber pleads for more prevention and says: “Even with such methods that one then says that the games are no longer held so often in the evening in order to get more families and children into the stadium in order to create a different atmosphere. So that this is not the domain of toxic masculinity.”
Before the current government took office, some ministries passed laws against racism. But Amir Theilhaber believes that they are no longer consistently applied under the right-wing extremist Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. And that also affects football.