Is Lionel Messi a Zionist? This is how the Israeli newspaper “Jerusalem Post” questioned the issue in a report that discussed a long history linking the Argentine football star to Jewish and Israeli circles.
The report discussed how some critics of Israel have highlighted Messi’s past activities and affiliations in the context of arguing that opposing the Argentine national team is an anti-Zionist option; in contrast, many Israelis support this team.
The newspaper addressed the rumors circulating about Argentine star Lionel Messi being a “Zionist,” reviewing the most prominent milestones of his relationship with Israel and the Jewish community in Argentina. It also touched on “the accusations leveled against him, especially by media figures in Egypt and Algeria.”
In 2018, a friendly match between Argentina and Israel was canceled following a campaign and pressure led by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. However, in 2019, the Argentine national team returned to play a friendly match in Tel Aviv despite the protests, and Messi scored a goal in the game.
She noted that Messi's past has resurfaced during his participation in the current World Cup with the Argentine national team, and the controversy that has accompanied it.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Messi's connection with Jews in Argentina. In 2011, he participated in a campaign to commemorate the victims of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Center in Buenos Aires. In 2013, he sent a message of encouragement to the Argentine delegation participating in the Maccabiah Games, also known as the "Jewish Olympics," in Israel. He visited Israel that same year with FC Barcelona as part of a "peace tour," performed prayers at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall), and met with then-Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The club also participated in sports activities with Israeli and Palestinian children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Lionel Messi, then a Barcelona player, during a reception at the residence of Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, on August 4, 2013 (Reuters).
In 2014, Messi supported a match for peace called for by the late Pope Francis to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but he did not participate due to injury.
The newspaper reported that Messi faced a media attack in Egypt in 2016 after donating his football boots to a charity auction. A former official in the Egyptian Football Association described him as "Jewish" and "Zionist," citing his previous visits to Israel. Azmi Megahed, the Egyptian Football Association's spokesperson at the time, said: "I know he is Jewish, and he has donated to Israel and visited the Western Wall, etc.... We don't need his boots, and the poor of Egypt don't need help from someone who holds Jewish or Zionist citizenship."
A photograph taken on June 5, 2018 shows a banner hung on a main street in the West Bank city of Hebron, denouncing the football match between Argentina and Israel, before it was cancelled, and appealing to Argentine star Lionel Messi (Reuters).
In 2018, a friendly match between Argentina and Israel was cancelled following a campaign and pressure led by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, amid reports that Messi had received threats. In the same year, FIFA sanctioned the head of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, after he called on fans to burn pictures of Messi and his shirts if he played in the cancelled match.
Messi’s name was also linked to advertising contracts between 2017 and 2020 with two Israeli companies, Sirin Labs and OrCam .
The newspaper said that Messi was accused days earlier following Argentina's victory over Algeria in the World Cup, as an analyst on Algerian television accused him of being protected by the "Jewish lobby," and some pro-Palestinian activists called for cheering on Argentina's opponents because of Messi's past ties to Israel.
Despite the newspaper's review of data, it can be said that it did not attribute to Messi any definitive statement confirming that he is a Zionist, and merely presented episodes of his relationship with Israel and the Jews in Argentina.
At the end of its report, The Jerusalem Post stated that the World Zionist Organization used a pun related to Messi in a 2020 Hebrew-language educational video, explaining that the Hebrew word “mesibah” means “party,” or “fiesta” in Spanish. In Spanish, this sounds like “Messi va,” meaning “Messi goes,” or in other words, “If Messi goes, there will be a party.”
However, the newspaper that titled its report “Is Lionel Messi a Zionist?” despite reviewing these facts, it can be said that it did not attribute to Messi any definitive
