Israel protests: What have football fans got to do with it?

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have been forced to temporarily suspend his controversial plans for judicial reform in the face of mass protest, but opponents still believe that Israeli democracy is under threat.

A wave of popular protests has swept the country in recent months. Hundreds of thousands have taken the streets against the reforms, being pushed by Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party, along with his justice minister Yariv Levin and far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, of the Jewish Power party. But tens of thousands have also taken part in demonstrations in support of the government.

Represented on both sides of the divide are some of Israel's most political and well-organized football supporters, who have taken the debate to the country's sports arenas.

'If you don't jump, you're a fascist'

Among the fans opposing the government reforms are groups associated with Israeli sports club Hapoel Tel Aviv. Best known for it's Israeli Premier League football team, a few hundred fans recently took their protest to the club's basketball game against Hapoel Jerusalem.

"If you don't jump, you're a fascist," they chanted, bouncing up and down in unison and adding: "Yariv Levin, we're not in Poland here," referring to the European country's right-wing PiS party and their crackdown on the judiciary.

By directing their ire at Levin, the Hapoel fans were effectively attacking one of their own: the right-wing justice minister is a well-known Hapoel Tel Aviv fan and attends the club's football matches on a regular basis, despite large elements of the club's hardcore support being affiliated with Israel's center-left.

German left and Israeli right exchange messages in the stands

"Ultras Hapoel 99" (UH99), the club's leading ultra group, take pride in their antifascist, anti-racist stance. UH99 also maintain links to other European ultra groups with similar political views, such as those of Hamburg-based German second division side FC St. Pauli.

Recently, the connection between UH99 and their St. Pauli counterparts resulted in tensions with Beitar Jerusalem fan group "La Familia," one of the most well-known far-right organizations in Israel.

At the beginning of March, Hapoel's training ground was targeted in what authorities said was a deliberate arson attack. A hooligan section of La Familia, which names itself "The Tradition Keepers," used their Instagram account to seemingly take responsibility, posting a video of the youth team's equipment storage area on fire, along with a photo of a nearby graffiti which read: "The Holocaust wasn't the only time you were burnt."

During a recent German second division game between St. Pauli and Greuther Fürth, St. Pauli's ultras expressed their support for their Israeli friends with banners on the Südkurve (south stand) reading: "Solidarity with Hapoel Tel Aviv FC." 

The group also added explicit messages against Beitar Jerusalem and against Nazis, which didn't go unanswered. When Beitar faced Hapoel in the Israeli Premier League, La Familia produced a banner with a combative response: "Dear St. Pauli, if you think you're so tough, come and stand with UH99 against us — F*** Antifa!"

Beitar group in support of the reforms

La Familia's position isn't just limited to the terraces; the group has actively taken part in the demonstrations in support of Netanyahu's judicial reforms.

Within hours of announcing that they intended to take part in the demonstrations, videos of black-clad groups of teenagers and young men wearing shirts with the initials "LF" started doing the rounds on social media.

In one case, an Arabic-speaking journalist broadcasting from the protests was interrupted and attacked while a group of young men with La Familia flags stood next to him. According to reports, La Familia members also attacked an Arab taxi driver after the Jerusalem demonstration in support of the reforms.

As a result of the violence, some said they will think twice whether they will attend an anti-government demonstration again, especially affecting protesters with families.

La Familia's history of political violence

It's not the first time the group has mobilized for non-football causes. La Familia members also showed support for Netanyahu when the Prime Minister was facing calls to resign due to corruption allegations in 2020. The group chanted a wide range of racist slogans, while also violently attacking journalists, left-wing demonstrators and Palestinians.

La Familia are known to have connections with parts of Israel's right-wing political landscape, particularly Itamar Ben-Gvir, the country's far-right national security minister.

Ben-Gvir, a lawyer by trade, has represented La Familia members in court on several occasions, prompting chants of support for him during visits to Beitar Jerusalem games — notably against Israel's most prominent Arab club, Bney Sakhnin, a fixture particularly notable for violent incidents and racist chants.

Football fans bound to increase involvement

The minister is one of the staunchest supporters of the judicial reforms and, as the man responsible for the Israeli police force, he has often demanded tough treatment of protesters.

Ben-Gvir is also a vocal supporter of the far-right "Kach" movement, which was banned in Israel in 1994 after Baruch Goldstein, a Kach supporter, murdered 29 Palestinians in Hebron. For years, Ben-Gvir had a photo of Goldstein on his wall, until removing it upon becoming a minister.

With the protests in Israel raging on despite Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to delay the vote on the reforms, and society becoming more divided by the day, the protests are not expected to stop anytime soon, and with them, the clashes between both sides of Israel's political divide.

The longer the inner conflict in Israel goes on, the bigger the role organized football supporters are bound to take in the political violence on the streets of the Jewish state.

Edited by Matt Ford