Israeli soccer player arrested in Turkey for ‘inciting’ after gesture to hostages
Turkish justice minister opens probe against Antalyaspor’s Sagiv Jehezkel after he flashed ‘100 days’ in support of Oct. 7 abductees held by Hamas; player suspended from team.
(THE TIMES OF ISRAEL) Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation against Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel on charges of “inciting people to hatred and hostility,” said Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc, over a gesture he made to the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and captured on television after he landed a goal.
Jehezkel was arrested in Antalya, several Turkish news outlets reported late Sunday.
“A judicial investigation has been initiated by Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against Israeli football player Sagiv Jehezkel for ‘inciting people to hatred and hostility’ due to his ugly gesture supporting Israel’s massacre in Gaza after scoring a goal in the Antalyaspor-Trabzonspor Super Lig match,” Tunc wrote on social media platform X.
Jehezkel, 28, celebrated his equalizer goal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Trabzonspor in the top Turkish league by making a heart sign with his hands to the camera, and showed the words “100 days. October 7” along with a Star of David symbol on his wristband. 100 is the number of days the hostages have been in the Palestinian terror group’s captivity.
Jehezkel was promptly suspended from Antalyaspor “until further notice” following the appearance, amid fierce criticism from local fans and media in Turkey. The club president has also promised to terminate his contract.
Channel 12 reported late Sunday night that protests had broken out outside the offices of the Antalyaspor club demanding Jehezkel’s departure from the team, citing local media.
Ynet reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aware of the developments and that the Prime Minister’s Office together with the Foreign Ministry and the Culture and Sports Ministry were working to push Turkey for Jehezkel’s release.
In a post post on X Sunday night, Sinan Boztepe, the president of the Antalyaspor Turkish club, said that Jehezkel had “acted against the sensitivities of Antalya, Antalyaspor and our country.”
It was not immediately clear whether Jehezkel was suspended or fired from the soccer club, though Boztepe vowed to terminate his contract.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) added: “We condemn the completely unacceptable behavior of footballer Sagiv Jehezkel during the match between Antalyaspor and Trabzonspor played today (…) and find Antalyaspor’s decision to exclude the player from its team appropriate.”
Jehezkel was one of hundreds of thousands of Israelis and supporters around the world who called Sunday for the release of hostages who were taken captive in Hamas’s October 7 massacres on southern Israeli communities, when terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 240 hostages, of all ages.
Immediately after the game, Antalyaspor posted a photo of Jehezkel on social media to celebrate the goal, but removed it minutes later, according to Turkish and Israeli media reports, after furious backlash from fans and media.
According to a Channel 12 report on Sunday, if Antalyaspor indeed decides to terminate the contract with the Israeli player — who signed with the club in September 2023 on a three-season long contract until June 2026 — it would need to pay him over $1 million.
This is not the first time the Gaza war has been an issue for Israeli players in the Turkish soccer league. Weeks after the outbreak of the war, Jehezkel and his Arab Israeli teammate Ramzi Safouri decided to sit out a game after the league decided to hold a moment of silence in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza — without any mention of Hamas’s brutal onslaught on Israel that triggered the war.
AFP contributed to this report.
comments