The head coach of Israel’s national soccer team, Ran Ben Shimon, and assistant coach Gal Cohen were attacked in Athens on Thursday, the country’s Channel 12 News broadcaster reported on Tuesday.
The incident took place in the hours before the Hapoel Beersheva-AEK Athens match as the two men were roaming the Greek capital city’s streets while speaking Hebrew, Ben Shimon told Channel 12 News.
A passerby approached the coaches and began shouting pro-Palestinian insults, he recalled. When the two ignored the abuse, they were pushed, according to Ben Shimon’s account. The attacker was “removed from the scene” by the Israelis and other civilians following the incident.
“We attended Maccabi Tel Aviv’s matches in Cyprus and Beersheva’s match in Athens as part of our duties,” Ben Shimon told Channel 12. “The disgraceful incident in Athens was handled quickly and efficiently, and I can only regret the ignorance and impudence of that individual.”
“I doubt he even recognized us as the national team coaches, and in my assessment, the reason for the incident was simply that we were Israelis speaking Hebrew,” the Israeli coach said. “I am proud to represent my country everywhere, and this certainly won’t deter me in the future.”
Thursday’s attack in Athens joins a series of antisemitic incidents involving Israelis visiting the Hellenic Republic in recent weeks.
On Saturday, Israel’s Ynet news outlet reported that an Israeli tourist was attacked by a group of Syrian migrants at a beach near Athens, with one of them reportedly biting off a part of his ear.
The Israeli was taken to a local medical center for treatment, but was arrested in a hospital room after his attacker filed a police complaint against him for alleged “racist remarks,” the Hebrew report added.
The incident occurred only days after a group of Israeli teenagers was attacked early on Wednesday on the Greek island of Rhodes by dozens of pro-Palestinian assailants, some reportedly armed with knives.
That incident came a day after Israeli cruise ship passengers were barred from disembarking on another Greek island—Syros—because of pro-Palestinian protests at Ermoupoli Port, where activists accused the Jewish state of genocide in its war on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
