Controversy Erupts As Former Ireland Captain Robbie Keane Becomes Maccabi Tel Aviv Manager

Former Irish footballer and assistant manager Robbie Keane has been appointed as manager of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv. It is Keane’s first role as manager of a football club. The record Irish goalscorer retired from playing in 2018.

Since then, in management terms, he has dipped his toes in the water with his involvement in the Ireland set-up under Mick McCarthy and he was also brought in, late in the 2022-2023 season, to help Sam Allardyce, in the last-minute attempt to keep Leeds United in the Premiership.

However, Keane’s latest appointment, at Maccabi Tel Aviv, has triggered a serious backlash from a number of Irish organisations that support Palestine – and the fight against what they characterise as the Israeli apartheid regime.

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign were quick to express their disappointment with Keane taking the job, and thereby crossing the Palestinian picket line.

There is a Palestinian sporting boycott and call for the expulsion of the Israeli FA from FIFA and UEFA due to apartheid Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people, so it is deeply disappointing to see Robbie Keane go to manage Maccabi Tel Aviv. #BDS #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/nFgFiSk1KF

— IPSC (@ipsc48) June 26, 2023

WELCOME COACH ✍🏼https://t.co/7tSMupLWvj pic.twitter.com/iN6b6hFIGj

— Maccabi Tel Aviv FC (@MaccabiTLVFC) June 26, 2023

In solidarity with the Palestinian people, more than 1,500 Irish artists have pledged to boycott Israel. Among the artists who have taken this stand are CMAT, The Mary Wallopers, Damien Dempsey and Kneecap.

Actor and musician Steve Wall, of The Stunning and The Walls made his views known in a message. "I could do with the money," he said, "but I wouldn't play a gig there if they offered me a million. You can't condemn apartheid and at the same time take their cash."

Robbie Keane joins Maccabi Tel Aviv at a time when tensions between Israel and Palestine are particularly high. At least seven Palestinians were killed and over 89 injured after Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in Jenin last week.

As reported by Al Jazeera, following the raid, four Israelis were killed by two Palestinian gunmen who opened fire next to an illegal Jewish settlement.

Since the start of 2023, at least 174 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. At least 24 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians within the same time period.

High tensions have been further stoked by members of the Israeli government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir, who leads a far-right Zionist party in Israel has recently encouraged the installation of new illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands.

“We should settle the Land of Israel, and at the same time, launch a military operation, blow up buildings and eliminate not just one or two, but dozens and hundreds and, if needed, thousands of Palestinians,” Ben-Gvir said, speaking at an illegal hilltop outpost in Eyvatar last Friday.

The Israeli government last week approved plans for thousands of illegal settlement homes, deliberately inflaming an already extremely difficult situation.

Maccabi Tel Aviv are one of Israel’s most storied and successful football clubs. However, since being taken over by Canadian Zionist owner Mitchell Goldhar, in 2009, the team has featured fewer and fewer Arab players.

Sections of the Maccabi support have abused Arab players from the stands, and applied pressure on the club’s management to sell them. What amounts to racist abuse is largely ignored by the authorities and the media.

According to Palestinian journalist Rami Younis, the “mainstream racism” effectively condoned by Maccabi Tel Aviv tends to be underplayed, when compared to the more overt and vocal racism of Beitar Jerusalem and its fans.

The latter club, which was profiled in the documentary Forever Pure: Football And Racism In Jerusalem, is famously right-wing, and has no Arab players on its books. Younis, however, maintains that Maccabi Tel Aviv, Keane’s new team, are “just as racist” and actually “more dangerous” as a result of not being recognised as such.

Robbie Keane is Ireland’s most capped player, and all-time leading scorer. The Crumlin native was capped 146 times for the Irish national team, scoring 68 goals.

His international career spanned 18 years, two European Championships, one World Cup appearance, and five different Irish managers.

Here's a selection of the other responses to his Israeli appointment:

When we brought a kids' football team to Ireland from Gaza, 1st year the captain & 5 adults were denied exit permits by apartheid Israel, 2nd year 1 player and *all* the coaches weren't allowed out. Robbie Keane going to manage Maccabi Tel Aviv is a sickener.#FreePalestine #BDS pic.twitter.com/xLDaUsrCKy

— Gaza Action Ireland (@GazaAI1) June 26, 2023

Very disapointed to see Robbie Keane breaking the international #BDS boycott of #ApartheidIsrael and signing for Maccabi Tel Aviv. #Celtic and #Ireland fans will be appalled #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/oo5rWufgfJ

— Celtic Supporters Club Norway (@CSCNorway) June 26, 2023

Since 2017, children from this soccer academy in #Gaza have been prevented from travelling to #Ireland due to the Israeli blockade.

Robbie Keane's appointment as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv is an insult to the Irish people who try to give these kids a little hope each year. pic.twitter.com/OA03UDIBg7

— Ciaran Tierney (@ciarantierney) June 26, 2023

Did someone not tell Robbie Keane there is a vicious military occupation going on in the West Bank, only 30 minutes from where he will be sunning himself by the sea. https://t.co/w6se6HucgD

— Timmy Hammersley (@TimmyHammersley) June 26, 2023

Shame on Robbie Keane.

You may shamelessly chase the NIS and break the call for #BDS

We stand in solidarity with those who dream of playing in freedom & mourn those who never got the chance to live, let alone play.

Ahmed Daraghma
Ghassan Balawi
Ayman al-Kurd#FreePalestine https://t.co/T7KmDWxgx2

— Brendan Ciarán Browne (@brendancbrowne) June 26, 2023

Robbie Keane speaking to media in Israel at the moment - asked about Irish criticism of his decision to take a job there.

"I don’t want to get into politics," he replies. "This is the last time I will say it. I’m here as a football man and someone that loves the game."

— Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) June 27, 2023

#Irish football fans are known for their support for #Palestine Robbie Keane must know about Israeli #Apartheid regime, Brutal illegal occupation, siege of #Gaza yet he takes the tainted shekels to manage #MaccabiTelAviv. You won’t get a warm welcome in Ireland. #BDS pic.twitter.com/tXtbHVCK5z

— Derry IPSC (@ipsc_derry) June 26, 2023

Robbie Keane remember the 4 Bakr Boys from #Gaza murdered by #Israeli forces while playing #football on the beach in 2014. Respect the boycott of #ApartheidIsrael #BDS https://t.co/NYWyTCcbDj

— Cait Doire (@CaitDoire) June 26, 2023