Israeli soccer player Sagiv Yechezkel was arrested in Turkey for “incitement to hatred” after scoring a goal for his team and dedicating it to the Israeli hostages in Gaza by showing the words “100 days since 7/10” on his bandaged hand.

Three police officers arrived at Yechezkel’s home in Antalya on Sunday evening and detained him for questioning on grounds of “incitement to hatred” and “support for Israel’s massacre in Gaza.”

Following the incident, Yechezkel’s team, Antalyaspor, which originally featured his gesture on social media, quickly changed their minds due to the public outcry in Turkey and suspended him from the team” until further notice” and announced that it is working on terminating its contract with him due to his gesture that is against Turkey’s “national values.”

Public protests even took place outside the Antalyaspor club demanding that Yechezkel be kicked off the team.

Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced that an investigation was launched against Yechezkel for “public incitement to hatred and hostility due to his ugly gesture that supports the massacre carried out by Israel in Gaza.”

According to reports, Yechezkel said during his interrogation that he wasn’t trying to provoke anyone and that he only showed the inscription as a humanitarian gesture. “I’m aware of the sensitivity in Turkey,” he said. “It was just a gesture.”

Following his interrogation, Yechezkel was released on Monday morning pending a trial. However, shortly later, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced that Yechezkel will be released from Turkey and will return to Israel later on Monday.

A senior political official told Kan News that “everyone has been dealing with the issue since the wee hours of the night but it was done secretly so as not to cause too much noise around the issue and this contributed to his quick release.”

Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz slammed Turkey, writing that “Turkey has become a dark dictatorship, working against humanitarian values and the values of sports. Whoever arrests a soccer player for an act of identification with 136 hostages who have been held for over 100 days by a murderous terrorist organization represents a culture of murder and hatred. I call on the international community and international sports organizations to act against Turkey and its political use of violence and threats against athletes. Today it’s Sagiv Yehezkel, tomorrow it’s another athlete.”

In fact, the soccer team in Istanbul has launched a “disciplinary investigation” against another Israeli athlete, soccer player Eden Kartsev, who posted a message on social calling for the hostages to be returned home: “Our club has opened a disciplinary investigation against Eden Kartsev, who violated the club’s disciplinary instructions by posting on his personal social media account that violates the sensitivity in our country,” the team stated.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant excoriated the Turkish government, writing: “When there was an earthquake less than a year ago, Israel was the first country to proffer aid that saved the lives of many Turkish citizens. The scandalous arrest of soccer player Sagiv Yechezkel is an expression of hypocrisy and ingratitude. In its actions, Turkey serves as the executive arm of Hamas.”

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also rapped the Turkish government, writing: “This is Turkey 2024. Shame on you, Turkish government.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)