Messi headed to Israel with Barcelona FC

The star-studded team Barcelona FC will host a soccer clinic for Israeli and Palestinian children over August 3 and 4 at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv/Jaffa, according to new details of the visit released Thursday.

Barcelona, a favorite among both Palestinian and Israeli fans of European play, will arrive with a 300-strong delegation.

Barcelona’s top players will be making the trip, including Lionel Messi, regarded as one of the best to ever play the game.

The two-day event marks the official launch of a multi-year initiative under the auspices of the Education Ministry, “The Other is Me,” which aims to promote tolerance and inclusiveness in the school system.

The event, first announced in February, will include the participation of the youth teams from Beitar Jerusalem and Bnei Sakhnin, rivals in Israeli soccer whose matches have sometimes ended in fan violence.

President Shimon Peres, who was pivotal in setting up the visit, said Thursday that Barcelona’s trip to Israel was a way to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians “in the spirit of sportsmanship, moderation and patience.”

“We’ll do the utmost to make visit a success, and children in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority will have an exciting experience and good, positive memories that they’ll retain throughout their lives,” he said in a statement.

Plans for the visit were drawn up with the coordination of the Peres Center for Peace, the Israeli Football Association and the Palestinian Football Association. The visit was originally to have included an exhibition match between Barcelona and a joint Israeli-Palestinian Authority team of professional players, but the game was canceled after the Palestinians objected to playing alongside Israelis.