Ireland women's basketball team refuses to shake hands with Israeli athletes

Ireland's women's national basketball team has refused to shake hands with their Israeli opponents or partake in other outreach gestures, to protest accusations of antisemitism.

Team Ireland issued a statement on Thursday saying athletes would not take part in traditional pre-match arrangements with the Israeli national team - such as exchanging gifts and formal handshakes - after Israeli player Dor Saar accused them of being "quite anti-Semitic".

Israel coach Sharon Drucker also claimed that Ireland "did not respect" the game and said he was concerned about the match.

Saar's accusation led to an angry response from Team Ireland, whose players were reportedly considering boycotting the game due to Israel's war on Gaza.

"Basketball Ireland informed FIBA Europe yesterday that as a direct result of recent comments made by Israeli players and coaching staff – including inflammatory and wholly inaccurate accusations of antisemitism, published on official Israeli federation channels – that our players will not be partaking in traditional pre-match arrangements with our upcoming opponents," the team said in a statement.

Basketball Ireland said it “fully supports” its players in their decision.

Israel went on to defeat Ireland 87-57, although Palestinians and Irish warmly welcomed the stance taken by the players.

Saar’s comments followed a statement last month by Basketball Ireland where they "raised strong concerns about these fixtures with Israel, including the option not to play the games" in response to the war on Gaza, which now has killed 28,000 Palestinians.

Ireland’s 🇮🇪 national basketball team have today refused to shake hands with Israel’s 🇮🇱 players in protest at Israel’s genocide in Gaza 🇵🇸. pic.twitter.com/RRziGBTSpX

— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) February 8, 2024

This comes after growing pressure on Ireland to boycott the match, something the federation has said would not be feasible, although several players have opted not to travel to Riga.

Ireland is currently playing Israel in a EuroBasket qualifier – the match is in Latvia because of the ongoing war on Gaza, where Israel's attacks have so far killed over 27,000 people

Ireland is also one of the few Western countries considered to be sympathetic toward the Palestinian cause and was the first EU state to endorse Palestinian statehood and ban Israeli goods in 2018.