Israel Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has reacted to the images of Lamine Yamal waving a Palestinian flag during the Barça league celebrations on Monday, that quickly went viral and sparked all kinds of reactions from politicians in Spain and abroad. Katz said that Yamal was inciting hatred against Israel and asked FC Barcelona to distance itself from his statements.
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"Lamine Yamal chose to incite against Israel and foment hatred while our soldiers are fighting the terrorist organization Hamas, an organization that massacred, raped, burned, and murdered Jewish children, women, and elderly on October 7. Whoever supports this type of message should ask themselves: Does he consider this humanitarian? Is this moral?", posted Katz on X on Thursday morning.
"I expect a great and respected club like FC Barcelona to distance itself from these statements and make it unequivocally clear that there is no place for incitement or for support of terrorism."
Hansi Flick said "he didn't like it"
As of writing, FC Barcelona has not made any statement about this issue. Coach Hansi Flick, however, said that he didn't like what Yamal did. "It's something I don't like. I've spoken to him and told him that if he wants to do it, it's his decision. He's 18, he's of legal age, but I think we're here to play football", the German coach said on Tuesday during a press conference.