Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich on Monday penned an irate letter to the chairman of the Israeli Professional Football Leagues (IPFL) in which he protested holding soccer matches on Shabbat.
The complaint came after the governing body of Israel’s top two soccer tiers scheduled more matches than usual at an early hour last Saturday after the country ended Daylight Saving Time late last month, preventing Shabbat-observing soccer fans from attending.
Last week, Professional Football Leagues announced that starting last Saturday, some soccer matches in the Israeli league will be brought forward to the early afternoon hours of Saturday,” Smotrich, who is poised to become a senior minister in the next government, wrote.
"The IPFL’s reasoning for this 'celebratory' announcement was to attract as many audiences as possible to stadiums, especially families, children and soldiers. This is a very puzzling statement considering it is the first Shabbat that began after Daylight Saving Time ended and Shabbat ends earlier than usual.
"I welcome the desire to attract new audiences to the soccer stadiums, families, soldiers, the periphery, everyone. But in my eyes, the ignorance and closedmindedness toward such a large public are serious.”
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Maccabi Haifa's Omer Atzili (left) and Maccabi Tel Aviv's Enric Saborit
(Photo: Uzi Mualem)
The conservative lawmaker continued his letter by labeling the IPFL’s conduct “patronizing and heavy-handed” and “undemocratic, unsportsmanlike, and un-Jewish.”
The IPFL said in response that professional soccer matches have been played on Shabbat even before the establishment of the country and called on soccer fans to attend matches whose date and time correlate with their religious beliefs.
"There is Israeli football on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, so those who want to attend Israeli football matches can find the most convenient day for them, both secular and religious," it said.