Culture and Sport Minister Miki Zohar was the subject of taunts and derision at the hands of Israeli soccer fans at a recent game as shown in a video posted to X, (formerly Twitter) on Thursday.
Fans can be heard chanting “neo-Nazi” at the minister and are seen holding up a banner in Hebrew that read, "Mickey Mouse, you imagined a children's movie you got a war movie."
The incident took place during a game between the Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa and the Greek team Panathinaikos in European competition.Zohar took to X to condemn the banner and chant.
“No, football is not a war movie, it is joy and fun for all the fans together with their families and that is exactly what will happen sooner or later,” he said.
He lamented the direction in which Israeli sport appears to be going, saying that it was a “shame” and that Israeli sports are “losing big.”
Unpopular among sports fans in Israel
Zohar recently came under fire when he announced a cutting of funding and subsidies for sporting events on Shabbat, which was swiftly overruled by Prime Minister Netanyahu as was recently reported by The Jerusalem Post.
“From the founding of the state, there is a status quo in Israel which, unfortunately, the outgoing minister violated last year – and for the first time in the history of the Culture and Sports Ministry, decided to actively initiate an activity that takes place precisely on Shabbat, which had never taken place,” he said following the retraction.
לא, כדורגל זה לא סרט מלחמה, זו שמחה וכיף לכל האוהדים והאוהדות יחד עם המשפחות שלהם וזה בדיוק מה שיקרה במוקדם ובמאוחר. חבל שארגוני האוהדים ממשיכים לצעוד בכיוון לא נכון כי הספורט של כולנו מפסיד מזה ובגדול. pic.twitter.com/BefHKyRt91
— Miki Zohar מיקי זוהר (@zoharm7) October 5, 2023
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid slammed Zohar’s plans and tweeted in support of one of the programs that is threatened by the cuts. “‘Israeli Shabbat’ is an initiative for the unity of Israel. It doesn’t hurt anyone – it respects Shabbat, Israeli culture, and Jewish tradition. Its cancellation is an attack on the periphery and is religious coercion of the worst kind. I call on minister Miki Zohar to rescind the decision to prevent another rift in the people of Israel,” Lapid wrote.