Saturday evening, prior to tip-off between Israel and Poland, dozens of police vehicles began to gather in the square near the “Spodek Arena,” the venue hosting the Group D games of the European Championship. The reason? A pro-Palestinian protest planned to take place nearby. We, a group of Israeli journalists from all media outlets, had heard about this protest earlier in the week. Unfortunately, it was entirely expected as Israel’s international standing isn’t great these days.

Israeli fans also got word of it; some were initially a bit concerned. But once they gathered in the fan zone, with scarves, shirts and Hebrew proudly on display, there was almost no fear. Across the road, a relatively small group of about 30 people protested, while the Israeli fans celebrated, drank beer and enjoyed themselves. One Polish policeman I spoke with told me, “they are morons.”

בנתיים, מחוץ לאולם, פעילים פרו-פלסטינים מחלקים פלאיירים נגד המשחק. הפליירים מעוצבים כמו כרטיס כניסה למשחק. שימו לב לכותרת "לעולם לא עוד"

חשוב לציין, כרגע, "ההפגנות" הם בערך 10 אנשים@thesportsrabbi pic.twitter.com/Mt1CxXJ8kG

— Elchanan Hacohen (@elchnanhc) August 30, 2025

Inside the arena, the atmosphere was a bit more hostile. From time to time, Palestinian flags were raised and quickly taken down by security forces but the loud booing during “Hatikvah” was harder to silence. The automatic reaction from all the Israelis in the arena from the players, journalists, fans and security guards was unified and clearly expressed by national team captain Tomer Ginat right after the bitter loss: “We are the Israel National Team. We are incredibly proud of who we are and what we represent. The moment we heard the booing, it was only natural for us to start singing the anthem even louder to show that we are here and we’re staying here. We are proud to be who we are and to represent our country.”

But it seems that this positive, Zionist energy didn’t reach one of the most senior figures in Israeli basketball the owner of a team that will represent Israel in next season’s EuroLeague. A team whose fans, like the rest of Israeli society, have suffered countless losses in the past two years. That owner chose to tweet harsh criticism of a player who wasn’t born in Israel, who owes the country nothing and who is a player who was the first among the top foreigners to return to Israel after October 7th. Whether he likes it or not, Carrington will now be publicly associated with Israel and in today’s climate, that could harm him personally and professionally.

Let’s be clear: the professional criticism of Carrington is absolutely justified, he must perform better. But is that criticism, which likely doesn’t stem from a genuine desire to help the national team, really going to benefit anyone besides Ofer Yannay, when it’s phrased in such a dismissive way during the championship? What’s most infuriating is that it’s not just a one-off tweet it’s part of a long-running campaign with a single goal: to benefit Hapoel Tel Aviv, even if it means damaging the Israel National Team.

A few weeks ago, Ofer Yannay sent a letter to the Israeli Basketball Association demanding the naturalization of Jonathan Motley. Naturalizing a player is a process that takes time as there are bureaucratic hurdles both in the country and with FIBA. If Ofer Yannay truly wanted Motley to be naturalized, he should’ve initiated the process over six months ago around the time Motley tried to flee to a big financial offer from Red Star Belgrade using the war as a pretext and just before Hapoel Tel Aviv began poking around one Khadeen Carrington.

The national team says, “We aren’t going to deal with this,” but basketball players don’t live in the 1990s, they’re connected to social media and aware of what is going on. The only thing they should be hearing from the Holy Land right now is “El El Israel!” The criticisms, debates, jabs and political maneuvering, those can wait until after the championship.