No, Israel's footballers shouldn't be thrown out of European football the way Russia was, and Manor Solomon's tantrum after the loss in Debrecen doesn't move that argument an inch. All it does is make him easier to dislike.
Start with what the Israel captain actually said. His verdict on the Ireland players: they "don't interest me." Then: "We have a country 10 times better than theirs, stronger, an amazing country with amazing people." Then the line that did the damage: "We are proud to wear the team shirt and to be Israelis. We are proud of our state and of our soldiers. They can play all their tricks." He'd already flagged that he was holding back, saying that if he told you what he really thought of the Irish players he'd "likely be suspended for a few matches. Obviously, they hate us. We don't like them."
It's chauvinist, it's graceless, and dragging soldiers into a losing dressing-room rant during the Gaza war is a grim thing to reach for. Condemn it. But condemn it as what it is: a footballer running his mouth after a bad night.
Now the comparison everyone's actually fighting over. Russia has been banned from all FIFA and UEFA competitions since February 28, 2022, for invading Ukraine, a fellow UEFA member nation. That ban isn't gathering dust either. As of June 2026, UEFA had extended the exclusion of Russian teams and clubs into the 2026/27 season. That's a sanction on a state for sending its army across another member's border.
Point to the equivalent with Israel and Ireland. There isn't one. Ireland hasn't been invaded by Israel. Whatever you think of the Gaza war, and plenty of Ireland thinks plenty about it, it's not the fact pattern that got Russia expelled. Trying to launder Solomon's trash talk into a case for exclusion cheapens the actual reason Russia is out.
Ireland didn't need Solomon's help to make its point. The players wore black armbands, bowed their heads through Israel's anthem and refused the handshake, all of it cleared with UEFA in advance. Gavin Bazunu pulled out of both legs, saying he thought it would be wrong to play. The squad even had to vote on Saturday morning to go ahead at all, with a real minority against. They showed up and played. Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan scored, and Ireland were quicker and sharper all night. A protest with a scoreline attached does its own talking.
More serious than Solomon's mood is what happened to Idah. He's Black, and he was allegedly targeted with monkey chants, with Jayson Molumby flagging abuse to officials during the game. The Israel FA denies any of it happened. UEFA says it can't formally investigate because the on-pitch protocol wasn't triggered, a procedural dodge if ever there was one, and the FAI has opened its own probe. That's unresolved, and it's the allegation that should decide whether anyone faces real consequences.
Even Israel's own manager understood the difference. Ran Ben Shimon took the criticism onto himself: "the blame is on me." His captain went the other way and picked a fight with a country. The two teams meet again in Serbia behind closed doors, and the tie isn't over.
Solomon earned the backlash. He gave nobody a case for banning his country, and the people pretending otherwise aren't arguing in good faith.
