Israel is in Group 9 of the qualifiers alongside Norway, Italy, Moldova, and Estonia. It has played five matches so far, achieving three wins and two losses, to collect nine points, placing it in third place, level with Italy on points, but behind on goal difference. It has four matches remaining to determine its fate in the competition.
According to Channel 12, the decision to exclude Israel is on the agenda for next week's UEFA executive meeting, amid intense Israeli efforts to prevent it from being passed.
She claimed that the main reason behind this potential measure was the Israeli attack on Qatar, one of UEFA's most prominent sponsors, which targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha on September 9 and resulted in the death of a member of the Qatari internal security forces.
The Hebrew channel noted that UEFA had previously expressed a clear stance on the Israeli war of extermination in Gaza, with a banner raised during the opening match of the European Super Cup between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur reading: "Stop killing children... Stop killing civilians."
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans previously sparked riots and vandalism in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, in November 2024, tearing down the Palestinian flag, raising racist slogans, and provoking taxi drivers of Arab origin during a match between the Israeli club and Ajax Amsterdam.
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These developments come at a time when the international boycott of Israel is expanding due to the genocide in the Gaza Strip. The Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported on Friday that the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) announced the cancellation of Israel's participation in the major Italian tourism fair, TTG Travel Experience, scheduled to be held in Rimini from October 8 to 10.
The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority also reported that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands have declared their opposition to Israel's participation in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, due to the situation in Gaza, with other countries considering joining the boycott.
These steps, according to observers, confirm that Israel is facing growing isolation in various areas, a point acknowledged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week when he said for the first time that his country was entering "a kind of isolation."
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 65,174 martyrs and 166,071 wounded, most of them children and women, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 440 Palestinians, including 147 children
