Israel captain Manor Solomon criticised his Irish opponents after they declined to shake hands with his teammates and appeared to ignore Israel’s national anthem.
Ireland and Israel met in Hungary on Sunday night, with Irish goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu boycotting the fixture on ethical grounds.
Ireland captain Dara O’Shea did not shake hands with West Ham winger Solomon during the coin toss, while the Irish players wore black armbands throughout the match.
“They said nonsense [to us] during the game. I don’t want to talk about them,” Solomon said.
“If I say what I think about them, I’ll probably be banned for a few games, so I don’t want to say. Of course they hate us and we don’t like them.
“I’m already looking forward to the next game against them; it’s going to be completely different. What they did during the anthem? I’m not interested in them. We have a country that is ten times better than theirs, stronger, an amazing country with amazing people.
“We are proud to wear the national team shirt and to be Israelis. We are proud of our country and our soldiers. [The Irish] can play all their tricks. We are Israelis and love our country, and that will always be the case.
“We will do everything to make it look completely different against Kosovo. We have four more games in the campaign and it’s not over. I believe we can do it. I know who I’m with here, I know the players and the team. We will get out of this and get revenge for this.”
Israel captain Manor Solomon said his country was “ten times better” than Ireland after Irish players declined to shake hands before the match.
The build-up to the match was overshadowed by controversy after Ireland’s squad held a four-hour meeting to decide whether they wanted to play.
Bazunu’s decision to withdraw reportedly prompted several players to consider joining him, according to the Irish Times. However, a “significant majority” ultimately voted to play the fixture and stage their protest in their own way.
The Bolton goalkeeper explained his decision by saying: “I am a man of strong faith and try my best to be a person of character and principle.”
“My decision is based purely upon my belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong.
“It is important to note that my stance is not in opposition to the Israeli people or the Jewish community, but against the atrocities in the region.
“There are few times in life when you get a chance to stand for something bigger, and I strongly believe this is one of them.”
On Thursday night, Bazunu’s Ireland teammate Jason Knight had publicly expressed his discomfort about facing Israel.
“I don’t think the game should obviously be going ahead, but it is going ahead,” Knight said. “We’ll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, get our thoughts together as a group and go from there.”
Ireland’s substitutes and staff also looked towards the floor during Israel’s anthem after the squad voted to play the match.
Israel coach Heimir Hallgrimsson faced heavy criticism in Israel after saying Ireland were “playing against genocide.”
“It is uncomfortable. There is obviously a lot of discussion, and rightly so, about the situation we are in. But I thought Dara spoke quite well on Wednesday.”
‘It’s a bigger spotlight obviously (around the Israel games) and not focused on the football itself. It’s very, very unusual and none of us have come into this scenario before so we’re learning on the fly as well. So we’ll talk as a group and see what is the best foot forward.’
Defender Dara O’Shea, meanwhile, admitted his side were in a ‘tough position’.
‘As soon as the game was decided by the FAI, the government and Uefa, we were always going to be put in a tough position. We feel exposed, it’s come down to us as such at the end,’ he said this week. ‘We knew that was going to be the case and this was going to come our way. It’s a difficult situation but we understand the severity of it too.
‘It doesn’t really necessarily matter my opinion entirely. It’s about the group’s decision. We’ve got to come together as one and navigate that ourselves. This is obviously slightly different.’
Ireland won 3-0 after first-half goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan, who took off his black armband and kissed it when celebrating. There were no handshakes at full time and Ireland’s players were booed as they left the field.
It may well have been a talking point had Israel scored, given how forward Sayed Abu Farchi was sent off in the second half of his side’s defeat against Austria having taken the corner flag out the ground and appeared to mimic a gunshot.
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Fans were left stunned and judged the move to be in bad taste, but Israel’s delegation insisted that Farchi was imitating a snooker hit.
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson had previously stirred controversy after saying his team are ‘playing against genocide’ amid Israel’s attacks on Palestine, where more than 70,000 people have been killed since the war in Gaza began, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Hallgrimsson’s comments sparked an angry backlash from Israeli officials, but there have been growing calls for the game to be scrapped by the Irish public – with a petition attracting over 17,000 signatures.
Israel’s Sayed Abu Farchi was sent off on Thursday after mimicking a gunshot following a goal
UEFA rules mean teams must name at least three goalkeepers in their squad and Bazunu’s withdrawal meant that Jimmy Dunne, the QPR centre back, was named as a keeper on the official team-sheet.
Irish broadcaster RTE cut back its screening of the game with no studio punditry, no advertising and only using commentary from an international feed.
Many pubs in Ireland refused to show the game and there were protests outside the team hotel in Dublin earlier in the week.
The match came against a backdrop of ongoing and increasingly volatile disagreement between the two countries about Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
In May 2024, Ireland officially recognised a Palestinian state – alongside Spain and Norway – and later that year joined South Africa’s Gaza genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice.
The country has also refused to take part in Eurovision since 2025 due to Israel’s ongoing participation in the song contest and was the first EU nation to boycott goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
In June, the country issued travel bans on Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich,
Ireland are set to play Israel again on Sunday but it will be behind closed doors at a neutral venue in Serbia.
As soon as Ireland were placed with Israel – as well as Austria and Kosovo – at the Nations League draw in February, the FAI faced demands from some to boycott the matches.
But the FAI eventually took a vote of its delegates in July, in which 75 members voted to play the matches and 32 voted to boycott.
It decided this summer to play its ‘home’ fixtures against Israel at a neutral stadium, citing ‘operational challenges that could impact on the delivery of the game on home soil’.
No tickets were sold to Irish fans for either the ‘home’ or ‘away’ matches, while a small allocation was available for Israeli fans for the first fixture, which has been the case at multiple previous Israel home games held in Hungary.
Hungary was chosen because it enjoys a stronger diplomatic relationship with Israel compared to many other European nations, and it has been willing to provide the necessary policing and security arrangements for matches to take place.
While the FAI gave no official reason for the selection of Backa Topola in Serbia, the remoteness of the town may make security management easier and reduces the possibility of demonstrations.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry on Saturday said the Palestinian death toll has risen to 74,016, with 175,068 wounded.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage.
While a ceasefire that took effect last October 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued in what the military has said are responses to threats or attacks.
Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed, said the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government.
Meanwhile, seven Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.
Next steps in the US-brokered ceasefire remain largely stalled.
Israeli forces now control over half of the territory, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they will not withdraw until Hamas disarms.
