Israel captain Manor Solomon has hit out at his Irish opponents after they refused to shake hands with his teammates and blanked their national anthem.

Ireland and Israel played in Hungary on Sunday night with Irish goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, 24, boycotting the match on ethical grounds. 

Skipper Dara O'Shea did not shake hands with West Ham winger Solomon for the coin toss and Ireland wore black armbands throughout the game 'in recognition of all lives lost in the [Gaza] conflict'.

'They said nonsense [to us] during the game, I don't want to talk about them,' Solomon, 27, said in an interview after his side's 3-0 defeat.

He added: 'If I say what I think about them, I'll probably be banned for a few games so I don't want to say. Of course they hate us and we don't like them.

The episode is the latest sign of growing hostility towards Israel and comes weeks after 12 countries including the UK, France and Canada announced sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank earlier this month. 

It also comes after British singer Ed Sheeran faced huge backlash having dropped US rapper Macklemore from his tour over pro-Palestine comments. 

'We will do everything to make it look completely different against Kosovo, we have four more games in the campaign and it's not over,' Solomon said.

'I believe in ourselves that we can do it. I know who I'm with here, I know the players and the team, we will get out of this and get revenge for this.' 

The Israel captain continued: 'I'm already looking forward to the next game against them, it's going to be completely different. What they did with the anthem? I'm not interested in them, we have a country that is ten times better than theirs, stronger, an amazing country with amazing people.

'We are proud to wear the national team's shirt and be Israelis. We are proud of our country and our soldiers. [The Irish] can play all their tricks. We are Israelis and love the country. And that will always be the case.'

The build-up to the game was plunged into chaos after Ireland's squad held a four-hour meeting deciding whether they even wanted to play. 

The calls to boycott were part of a 'Stop The Game' campaign, organised by the pressure group Irish Sport for Palestine and supported by former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr and ex-international James McClean.

Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu withdrew from the squad, with the Bolton star saying ‘I am a man of strong faith and try my best to be a person of character and principle’, adding: 'My decision is based purely upon my belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong. 

Bazunu's withdrawal did lead some players to consider pulling out alongside him, the Irish Times claims, before a 'significant majority' voted in favour of playing the game and protesting in their own way. 

The Bolton Wanderers star justified his decision by saying: 'I am a man of strong faith and try my best to be a person of character and principle’.

'My decision is based purely upon my belief that the killing of innocent people is wrong.

'It is important to note that my stance is not in opposition to the Israeli people or the Jewish community but against the atrocities in the region.

'There are few times when you get a chance in life to stand for something bigger and I strongly believe that this is one of them.'  

On Thursday night, Bazunu's team-mate Jason Knight publicly shared his discomfort at the prospect of facing Israel. 

'I don't think the game obviously should be going ahead but it is going ahead,' said Knight. 'We'll have a deeper talk about it and what that means, we'll get our thoughts as a group and go from there. 

'It is (uncomfortable). There is obviously a lot of talk and rightly so about the scenario we're in, but I thought Dara spoke quite well (on Wednesday).

'It's a bigger spotlight obviously (around the Israel games) and not focused on the football itself. It's very, very unusual and none of us have come into this scenario before so we're learning on the fly as well. So we'll talk as a group and see what is the best foot forward.'

Meanwhile, Ireland defender O'Shea, who plays for Ipswich Town, admitted his side were in a 'tough position'.

'As soon as the game was decided by the FAI, the government and Uefa, we were always going to be put in a tough position. We feel exposed, it's come down to us as such at the end,' he said this week.

'We knew that was going to be the case and this was going to come our way. It's a difficult situation but we understand the severity of it too.

'It doesn't really necessarily matter my opinion entirely. It's about the group's decision. We've got to come together as one and navigate that ourselves. This is obviously slightly different.'

Ireland won 3-0 after first-half goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan, who took off his black armband and kissed it when celebrating. 

There were no handshakes at full time and Ireland’s players were booed as they left the field. 

It may well have been a talking point had Israel scored, given how forward Sayed Abu Farchi was sent off in the second half of his side's defeat against Austria having taken the corner flag out the ground and appeared to mimic a gunshot.

Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson had previously stirred controversy after saying his team are 'playing against genocide' amid Israel's attacks on Palestine, where more than 70,000 people have been killed since the war in Gaza began, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Hallgrimsson's comments sparked an angry backlash from Israeli officials, but there have been growing calls for the game to be scrapped by the Irish public – with a petition attracting over 17,000 signatures. 

UEFA rules mean teams must name at least three goalkeepers in their squad and Bazunu's withdrawal meant that Jimmy Dunne, the QPR centre back, was named as a keeper on the official team-sheet. 

Irish broadcaster RTE cut back its screening of the game with no studio punditry, no advertising and only using commentary from an international feed.

It said it would only 'meet its contractual obligations' to broadcast the fixtures.

Many pubs in Ireland refused to show the game and there were protests outside the team hotel in Dublin earlier in the week. 

The match came against a backdrop of ongoing and increasingly volatile disagreement between the two countries about Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

In May 2024, Ireland officially recognised a Palestinian state - alongside Spain and Norway - and later that year joined South Africa's Gaza genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice. 

The country has also refused to take part in Eurovision since 2025 due to Israel's ongoing participation in the song contest and was the first EU nation to boycott goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

In June, the country issued travel bans on Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich,

Ireland are set to play Israel again on Sunday but it will be behind closed doors at a neutral venue in Serbia.

As soon as Ireland were placed with Israel - as well as Austria and Kosovo - at the Nations League draw in February, the FAI faced demands from some to boycott the matches.

But the FAI eventually took a vote of its delegates in July, in which 75 members voted to play the matches and 32 voted to boycott.

It decided this summer to play its 'home' fixtures against Israel at a neutral stadium, citing 'operational challenges that could impact on the delivery of the game on home soil'.  

No tickets were sold to Irish fans for either the 'home' or 'away' matches, while a small allocation was available for Israeli fans for the first fixture, which has been the case at multiple previous Israel home games held in Hungary.

Hungary was chosen because it enjoys a stronger diplomatic relationship with Israel compared to many other European nations, and it has been willing to provide the necessary policing and security arrangements for matches to take place.

While the FAI gave no official reason for the selection of Backa Topola in Serbia, the remoteness of the town may make security management easier and reduces the possibility of demonstrations. 

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry on Saturday said the Palestinian death toll has risen to 74,016, with 175,068 wounded. 

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage.

While a ceasefire that took effect last October 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued in what the military has said are responses to threats or attacks.

Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed, said the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government. 

Meanwhile, seven Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.

Next steps in the US-brokered ceasefire remain largely stalled. 

Israeli forces now control over half of the territory, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they will not withdraw until Hamas disarms.

On September 8, the UK announced sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, following reports of some 1,400 attacks by Israeli settlers this year.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the measures would target 'illegal settlements and settlement expansion', adding that there had been 'ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists'.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded by accusing Miliband of spreading an 'outrageous lie' and later announced counter-measures, including shutting the UK's consulate in East Jerusalem. 

Britain's sanctions were launched alongside France and Canada, which in a joint statement with the UK said the action 'marks a further turning point in our approach to protecting the two-state solution'.

The countries' statement said they made this decision due to 'unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion, including the unacceptable decision to publish tenders for the E1 settlement project,' which would link Jerusalem with Ma'aleh Adumim and is understood as a step that would fracture the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state. 

On September 22, the Netherlands banned all goods from illegal Israeli settlements, with individuals and companies facing up to six years in prison for violating the rules, according to the Public Prosecution Service.

The ban covers businesses and travelers’ luggage, with unintentional violations resulting in up to one year in prison or fines.

Customs officials have started to check luggage at the border, following the ban.

'If customs finds goods that can be established as falling under this sanctions measure, we will seize them and draw an official report,' a spokesperson said. 

After the ban came into effect, Israeli Foreign Minister Sa’ar revoked the credentials of Dutch diplomats serving in the West Bank, saying Israel would not ignore measures 'intended to harm it'.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen responded that the Netherlands regrets Israel’s 'unnecessary decision,' and that his country’s decision to suspend imports from the West Bank was 'not directed against Israel'.