Arab Israeli soccer player booed by fans says he is quitting national team

Munas Dabbur, an Arab Israeli player on Israel’s national soccer team, announces that he is leaving the team.

“I would like to inform you of my decision that my part of the Israeli national team has come to an end,” he writes on Instagram. “I would like to thank my family and everyone who has ever supported me.”

Dabbur became the center of controversy last year after writing a Facebook post amid the 2021 May war with Gaza. Dabbur posted a photo of the Dome of the Rock near the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, alongside a quote from the Quran: “Do not think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He is only granting them respite until a day when their eyes will stare in horror.”

Dabbur later said that his post “expressed pain and had nothing to do with politics.” He was left out of national team activities for several months following the post, but returned in August, though he was booed by some fans when he walked onto the field.