Unless the French, like the city of Brussels, refuse to host Belgium-Israel due to excessively high security risks, the atmosphere is reminiscent of Euro 2021. Not that the most dismal competition of the Deschamps era left an unforgettable memory in our minds, but the mere fact of arriving for a match in Budapest evokes memories of the last two encounters held in the Hungarian capital. Two draws: 1-1 against Hungary, and 2-2 against Portugal, with each being memorable in its own right. This time, the French team travels to Hungary “to face” Israel in the Nations League, at the Bozsik Arena, which has a capacity of 8,200.
The Central European country has transformed into the neutral venue capital of the continent amid geopolitical upheavals. Before the Israeli team, the Belarusians—forced into exile due to the war in Ukraine but not banned by UEFA despite their support for Russia—had chosen to relocate there.
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the European football governing body views Hungary as a reliable partner equipped with modern infrastructure since Euro 2021. The award of the 2026 Champions League final to Budapest should be seen as a vote of confidence from Aleksander Ceferin. Secondly, Viktor Orban is a great football enthusiast, the kind who had a 4,500-seat stadium (Pancho Arena) built in Felcsut, his hometown where he still owns a second residence, and has propelled the local club, Puskas Akademia, into the Europa League, all with public funds.
It is indeed in Felcsut that Israel played its first match on neutral ground in late 2023 against Switzerland (1-1). “We have a very good combination of relationships and personal contacts within the Hungarian government, as well as a genuine love for both sport and football,” summed up Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, the Israeli ambassador to Hungary. In diplomatic language, one must translate: as everyone knows, Viktor Orban and Benjamin Netanyahu are friends and politically compatible, which significantly eases the situation. Finally, thirdly, Viktor Orban seizes the opportunity to promote his anti-immigration political ideas, presenting his country as one of the very few in Europe capable of ensuring the safety of the Jewish community. A fine role serving as a hypocritical shield against legitimate accusations of anti-Semitism: after all, didn’t the Hungarian Prime Minister lead an effort to rehabilitate the local Pétainist marshal, Admiral Miklos Horthy, during the previous decade?
Unsurprisingly, the match of the French team in Budapest has been classified as “high risk,” as has been the case for every encounter involving the Israeli national team post-October 7, 2023. The first match after the attack took place in Pristina against Kosovo, where the population, 90% Muslim, still bears the scars of war. The state of alert was such that Israeli intelligence participated in the security arrangements for the match. “The northern section of the stadium was reserved for us, and everything went well,” recalled a member of the Kosovar supporter group Dardanët. “Inside and outside the stadium, there were more checks than for other matches; security was really at a high level.”
Next Monday, Italy will face its security test in Udine, where the mayor of the city, initially resistant, finally agreed to host the match at the price of a very vague 180-degree turnaround. In a month, the French are also supposed to host the Israeli national team under similarly tense conditions, following the commemorations of October 7 and amid Israeli military attacks extending into Lebanon. For now, even though the Israeli Olympic team managed to play a match at Parc without the atmosphere turning completely chaotic, the November match is not even listed on the FFF ticketing site, a situation reminiscent of Belgium-Israel, which was ultimately relocated… to Hungary. The only difference being that the decision to relocate seems to have been better anticipated by the Belgian capital. Contacted by 20 Minutes, Benoît Hellings, the Climate and Sports Alderman of the City of Brussels, outlines the chronology of events.
“We learned in February that Belgium had to organize a match against Israel, against France, and against Italy. The mayor and I immediately contacted the director of the Belgian Union informally to discuss it, as we realized the logistical and security impact surrounding the organization of such a match. We had just experienced an attack on Swedish supporters in October 2023 that we did not foresee. It was therefore easy to imagine that a match against Israel at the King Baudouin Stadium would undoubtedly provoke security difficulties in the city. We have almost daily tolerated demonstrations, whether pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli. They are already a source of many security difficulties; it’s not easy to manage, even if there are no incidents.”
The numerous exchanges with Belgian football authorities, the federal government, and the National Security Council led Brussels to notify the Belgian Union that it was impossible to organize the match in a letter dated June 18, 2024, almost three months before the September 6 match. The decision did not come without political consequences, and the opposition was quick to see in the refusal to host the Israeli national team a form of anti-Semitism. “If I had to choose, it’s better to face unfounded accusations than to be responsible for a tragedy,” sighs the Alderman, who also puts UEFA on notice, while Aleksander Ceferin has refrained from acting as he has with Russia.
“The hot potato was handed over by UEFA to the host cities. That is completely unacceptable. It is not our responsibility to manage the consequences of a massive conflict. Massive from the perspective of the Palestinian victims, especially, and immense from the emotional burden of these conflicts. You didn’t have to manage the consequences of Russia’s participation in the Olympics in Paris, fortunately. So why should Brussels, Rome (sic), and Paris bear the security consequences of a political decision?”
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