Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan's and Beitar Jerusalem F.C. owner Moshe Hovav pose for a photo in Dubai
Credit: Reuters
A member of the Emirati royal family has bought a 50 per cent stake in an Israeli premier league club, the latest major deal to emerge from a normalisation treaty struck by the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates earlier this year.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan signed the deal with Beitar Jerusalem, a controversial club which has never signed an Arab player and has battled with a reputation for anti-Muslim racism.
"I am thrilled to be a partner in such a glorious club that I have heard so much of and in such a great city, the capital of Israel and one of the holiest cities in the world,” Sheikh Hamad said in a statement on the club’s website.
The reference to Jerusalem as the "capital" of Israel is noteworthy as the city is claimed by both the Israelis and the Palestinians as their own, and is one of the biggest sources of tension in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A spokesman for the club said that Beitar would set up a new board of directors and that Sheikh Hamad’s son would represent him on it. Sheikh Hamad has also pledged to invest 300m shekels (£69m) in the club over the next ten years.
The purchase is the latest in a string of lucrative deals made possible by the Abraham Accords, an agreement to end hostilities between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain.
File image of Beitar Jerusalem cheering at a football match
Credit: Reuters
But it is also likely to renew scrutiny of the club’s ties to racism. According to the Times of Israel, Beitar is “known for its long history of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment,” and is the only club in the Israeli premier league which has never had an Arab player.
The club is hugely popular among Israeli right-wingers and the far-right football fan group La Familia, which is known to chant racist and anti-Muslim slogans.
The group, which was founded in 2005, has been repeatedly condemned by senior Israeli politicians, including the president and the prime minister.
In 2013, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli premier and a Beitar supporter, opened a weekly cabinet meeting by warning that such “displays of extremism” were unacceptable and should be “uprooted from the public sphere.” Beitar says it follows a “zero tolerance” policy on racism.
Though the Abraham Accords have been hailed as the start of a new era of peace in the Middle East, they have not prevented further outbreaks of violence in Israel and the West Bank.
One the same day as the Beitar signing, six Israeli border officers and at least four Palestinians were injured in clashes at a refugee camp near Jerusalem. The border police reportedly opened fire after they were injured by Palestinian protesters who hurled large rocks at them.
And on Sunday, the Israeli military police said it had launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy who was killed during a protest in the West Bank.
In some cases, the purchase of a football club by a Gulf businessman has been interpreted as an attempt to improve their reputation and draw the spotlight away from Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s record on human rights.
Manchester City is already owned by Emirati royal family member, Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who bought the club in 2008.
Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, launched a failed bid to take over Newcastle United earlier this year as he came under intense criticism over the murder of a Washington Post coulmnist in Istanbul by Saudi agents.
But in the case of Beitar FC, the deal could have the inverse effect, where a 50 per cent stake owned by an Emirati royal helps to improve the club’s reputation.
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