gull“Maintaining our borders is more important than football.”
And then, there is the story of a certain Menashe Zalka (35 years old), the captain of the D1 team FC Hapoel Hadera, last in D1. In December 2023, he decided to interrupt his professional football career to go fight with the army. This is what he did for two months, in December 2023 and January 2024. “Maintaining our borders is more important than football”he declared. “I will not leave the battlefield until the war is over.”
He still returned to competition but remains available as a reserve. He has been part of the para-commando military unit since he was 18, when he did three years of military service. “Of course these three years without football disrupted my career”he said on Israeli TV. “For many players, it would have meant the end of their careers.” Maneshe does not hesitate to make very humiliating statements towards the Palestinians.
The Israeli population is so grateful to him that they believe that Zalka should be rewarded with a selection for the national team, but the federal coach has not yet included him in his group. On the other hand, he was honored with a prestigious award. Zalka is an Ethiopian by birth. Israel has a small Ethiopian Jewish community. FC Hapoel Hadera is last in the standings and will therefore be relegated to D2.
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