An upcoming friendly match between Argentina and Israel’s national football teams in Jerusalem has been cancelled, Argentine media reported Wednesday.

The Argentine Football Association said they had informed their Israeli counterparts about the decision.

 

The match, which was slated for June 9, was set to be played in Jerusalem’s Teddy Kollek Stadium but had drawn intense reactions, especially from Palestinians. It also faced boycotts from various groups.

 

The decision has triggered a state of tension among Israeli political and sport figures.

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke twice by phone with Argentine President Mauricio Macri to ask him to persuade the team not to cancel their visit, but Macri said the matter was out of his purview.

 

Senior aides to Netanyahu lambasted Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev for her decision to move the match to Jerusalem from its original venue in Haifa.

 

"Why was it necessary to move the match to Jerusalem?" one aide asked.

 

Israeli Army Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized the ‎decision, tweeting, "It's a shame that soccer ‎players from Argentina caved to pressure by Israel's ‎haters. We will not cower before anti-Semites who ‎support terrorism." ‎

 

Pro-Palestine activists, who stressed that the match would serve the efforts of Israel to legalize its occupation of Jerusalem, staged protests in many places as well as in Barcelona, where preparation for the game was ongoing.

 

 

 

Source: The Palestinian Information Center