Italy fans turn backs on Israel’s national anthem during soccer match in Hungary
‘Ultra’ fans hang banner calling for ‘liberty’ in apparent protest over war in Gaza; Italian team complains over Israeli announcer who called for pro-Israel chants
Some 50 Italian soccer fans turned their backs Monday while Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, was played before an Israel-Italy UEFA Nations League match in Hungary, in an apparent protest against the war in Gaza.
The Italian “ultras,” or super-fans, were clad in black and put up a large banner reading, “Freedom by the boys with the tricolors,” referring to Italy’s red, white and green flag.
The Italian national team also asked UEFA to stop an Israeli announcer who had called for pro-Israel chants during the game’s first half, Italian daily Corriere della Serra reported.
The game, which Israel lost 2-1, drew a meager audience of 2,000, including some 400 Italy fans, according to the Corriere.
Israel is playing its home games in Budapest’s Boszik Arena after UEFA deemed the country too dangerous amid the war with Hamas. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has close ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and has long promoted Hungary as the safest country in Europe for Jews. Orbán has banned Palestinian solidarity protests, arguing they present a threat to public safety.
Alfredo Antoniozzi, an Italian lawmaker from the ruling far-right Brothers of Italy party, reportedly said in a statement he wants to “apologize as an Italian to Israel,” and called for punitive measures against the fans who turned their backs during the playing of Hatikvah.
The fans “don’t know that six million Jews were massacred by the Nazis,” Italian news outlet Agenzia Dire quoted him as saying. “I ask [Italian soccer commissioner Gabriele] Gravina that they be identified and reported to the competent prefectures.”
Gruppo di ultra italiani dà le spalle al campo durante l'inno di Israele. Il gesto prima della partita di Nations League https://t.co/FTAbkdvR5G
— Corriere della Sera (@Corriere) September 9, 2024
Alessandro di Battista, a former lawmaker from the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, praised the fans, Dire reported.
“They did well,” he wrote on Facebook, calling Israel “the worst terrorist state in the world.”
Corriere della Serra said the same fans also chanted against Italian anti-fascist activist Ilaria Salis during the first half. Salis, recently elected to the European Parliament for the Italian Green and Left Alliance, was freed from house arrest in Budapest in June after facing charges for allegedly assaulting far-right demonstrators.
Italy is slated to host Israel in Udine on October 14, although Udine’s city council has not endorsed the match and a pro-Palestinian protest has been scheduled for the same day in the northern city.
Italy’s rightwing government has been supportive of Israel’s war in Gaza, though it ceased arms shipments to Israel shortly after the war was sparked on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.
