CELTIC star Liel Abada “knows people who lost relatives” in the Israel-Hamas conflict, an Israeli journalist has claimed.
The Hoops’ Israeli winger was given a rousing reception by Celtic fans as he returned to action after a two-month injury lay off during the 2-1 win over Rangers last month.
But there’s been continuing speculation over his future at the club, as the January transfer window gets under way, and the Hoops closing on another winger in Nicolas Kuhn.
That’s after the player sought out the board for crunch talks after Hoops ultras unveiled a banner back in October which read ‘Free Palestine, Victory to the Resistance‘ just hours after Hamas launched a series of raids which left hundreds of Israeli citizens dead with thousands more taken hostage.
The Green Brigade’s actions sparked fury amongst many Israelis, including former Hoops star Nir Bitton.
He wrote: “Shame on you!!! Yes free Gaza from Hamas not from Israel!! Supporting a terror organisation who are proudly celebrating their slaughter of families is absolutely crazy. Embarrassing.”
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Abada’s Israeli team-mate Dolev Haziza, said he should leave Celtic ‘immediately’, with Israeli boss Alon Hazan calling the Hoops fans ‘anti-Semitic’.
It has all placed the 22-year-old in a very difficult situation – at a time when he had just agreed a new contract to stay at the club.
As quoted in The Herald, Israeli journalist Uri Levy has revealed that the personal toll was great on Abada.
He said: “I know from common friends of ours that he knows people who lost relatives, and that his friends got injured in the ground operation in Gaza.
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“For Liel, as a young player, or as a young man, how can you even focus on football?
“He’s not the type of guy who would go to the media and talk about it. He’s a quiet boy, he doesn’t have an outgoing personality, as such.
“But as for these reports about people pressuring him to leave or people saying that he must leave? No.
“With the passing of time, and with all of that grief and sorrow, life goes on.
“We recognise that a person has to do whatever they can to care for themselves and to put themselves in the best situation possible.
“Whether Liel is in the best situation professionally at Celtic, this is one question.
“Whether emotionally and mentally it is a good place for him to be, I think only he can answer.
“I cannot see a possibility that this is not affecting his day-to-day routine.
“Footballers are human beings at the end of the day.
“But I don’t play down the strength of his character. He’s maybe not the most outspoken personality, but he is not a weak player in his mind.
“We know that football is complex, and that’s ok. We are not drawing the conclusion that all Celtic fans share the stance of the Green Brigade.
“So, if Celtic are giving Liel the stage to shine and show his talent, and if Liel is feeling good at this stage and producing the maximum out of himself there, then people will say ‘ok, if they want to wave these flags, let them wave, as long as Liel is playing well and scoring goals’.
“If he is not producing 100 percent from himself though and he is on the bench or whatever, people will not care about flags or the opinions of the Green Brigade, they will just want him to go somewhere he can play football regularly with a clear mind.”
Celtic, it must be remembered, have handed many Israeli players a platform to play – right back to Eyal Berkovic.
“Liel is not the first Israeli to play for Celtic,” Levy said.
“We remember very well Eyal Berkovic becoming the most expensive signing for the club at that time, and people really got connected with Celtic from that.
“People have certain opinions about us as Israelis, but we identify with the underdog point of view, and we really connect with this idea.
“We tend to feel that all the world is against us, and that is very similar in a way to what Celtic fans represent in a certain way within the UK.
“But there was a lot of tension towards the fact that Celtic do have the Green Brigade who are very vocal and very clear about what they think about Israel as an idea.
“I think as a community and fans of football, despite this situation, when Beram Kayal played there we all supported Celtic, the same with Nir Bitton who was there for more than a decade.
“The vast majority, more than 90-95 percent, were totally accepting of the fact that life is complex.
“That Celtic can be a great destination for Israeli footballers, and they can also have their most dominant fan group who would neglect the idea even of the existence of Israel.”
The notion of Abada scoring goals for Celtic – and being cheered by the Green Brigade – is one that Levy reckons people in Israel can get their head around – assuming he himself can.
“Liel is one of our favourite sons here in terms of Israeli football. He is extremely talented, and we want to see him succeed. For me, I think he has made tremendous progress at Celtic.
“If you remember at the beginning of this war, Liel went to speak with the manager of Celtic, and afterwards the club released this announcement regarding the Green Brigade and the Palestinian flags.
“So, that encouraged a lot of the people here in Israel to say ‘ok, first of all, Liel is a real man, and he stands for what he believes and what he represents – his people and his country. And second, the club is not the Green Brigade’.
“Celtic as a club did what they could do at their level to show the real essence of the club is to accept everyone.
“Anyone who is familiar with European football knows that Celtic is a big stage.
“But it is up to the club and for the manager to provide the conditions where Liel is happy to continue to develop, and happy to show his talent, as he has already at Celtic.
“If he is able to, then in Israel, Liel will get the support.
“Because he did something for us when he went to speak with the management of the club and the board, so we know where his heart is.
“I think that Liel will succeed again with Celtic, that he can rise up and score again and find his form, and if he does that then you will see a different reaction from Israelis.
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“That will be because he stayed, he showed his real character, and he succeeded in getting his form back.”
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