Israeli sports journalists report from numerous hostilities at the World Cup in Qatar. “We feel hatred, are surrounded by hostility and are not wanted,” two reporters for the Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot wrote on Sunday. “We were followed in the streets by Palestinians, Iranians, Qataris, Moroccans, Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians and Lebanese, who glared at us with hatred.”
Other Israeli journalists reported on social media similar experiences. For example, in one video, Moav Vardi from Kan broadcaster is seen being yelled at by an angry fan who says, “There is no Israel, there is Palestine. You are not welcome here, this is Qatar, this is our country.”
Israel’s Channel 12’s Ohad Chemo said Israel has reached agreements with four Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – in recent years. However, many people on the street do not support this, “and many of them don’t like our presence here“. It is apparently interpreted as a sign of a normalization of relationships, which one rejects. Chemo was aggressively tackled, among other things, by an apparently Iranian fan.
A more positive video was recently shown by an Israeli TV reporter who was surrounded by celebrating Iranian fans. Israeli fans also reported a friendly reception in Qatar.
Despite the difficult political relations between Qatar and Israel, thousands of Israeli football fans traveled to the emirate for the World Cup. The first direct charter flight from Israel to the emirate took off a week ago. Israel and Qatar do not have diplomatic relations. The emirate also supports Islamist groups that are enemies of Israel.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, an agreement during the World Cup should also make consular services available to Israelis. Israel opened a trade mission in Qatar in 1996, which was later closed by the emirate.