A Team That Gave Hope, Then Four Months Later Hamas Attacked Israel
Ido Rakovsky, who covered the Israeli under‑20 side for Haaretz, described the feeling of reporting on the team’s run as if it were science fiction rather than sport. Israel’s senior national team has qualified for the World Cup only once, yet the youth side managed to beat global powerhouse Brazil in the quarter‑finals of the Under‑20 World Cup. After the final whistle the Israeli television commentator promised viewers that “you will tell of this night to your children, and they will tell it to your grandchildren.” Many heard him. Five days later the semi‑final against Uruguay became the most‑watched programme of the evening on Israeli television, drawing a 23 percent share. Politicians rushed to congratulate the players. It was June 2023.
“That summer everybody was watching under‑20 football, everybody knew the players,” Rakovsky said. “Everybody in Israel fell in love with these kids.”
The team’s appeal went beyond what happened on the pitch. After scoring a stoppage‑time winner against Uzbekistan in the last‑16, Anan Khalaili gave an interview to Israeli television. He thanked the viewers back home for staying up late to watch his team win in Argentina, using the Hebrew phrase “Am Yisrael,” which means “People of Israel” and is tied to Jewish religion, community, culture and history. Rakovsky noted that an Arab player employing that expression said something about the team’s identity. “That team made real the claim that football can really bring people together, that Muslim players are part of the national team of the Jewish state, representing Israel and creating something better, both for the present and future,” he said.
Just over four months after Khalaili’s interview and the victory over Brazil, Hamas launched an attack on Israel. The armed Palestinian group killed about 1 200 people and took 251 hostages. Israel responded with a massive military offensive in Gaza. The United Nations believes the retaliation has resulted in the deaths of more than