After the incidents surrounding Sagiv Yehezkel, another Israeli professional has fallen out of favor in Turkey due to statements in the Middle East conflict. Eden Karzev (23) was initially punished by Basaksehir – and has now been loaned out
Karzev had used social networks to call for the release of the hostages kidnapped by the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas in Israel at the beginning of October. Following these public expressions of solidarity for his home country, the 23-year-old midfielder was questioned by the authorities. And his club Basaksehir also took action.
“The player was punished on the basis of Basaksehir’s disciplinary regulations after the investigation was completed and it was deemed appropriate for the player to continue his career abroad,” the Istanbul club announced on Thursday. Karzev was subsequently loaned to Israeli top-flight club Maccabi Tel Aviv until the end of the season, who also have an option to buy the player. Karzev was a regular starter for Basaksehir until the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, after which he only made brief appearances. He has made five international appearances for Israel so far.
Basaksehir is considered the favorite club of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly described Israel as a “terrorist state” and Hamas as “liberators” since the start of the war.
Only one Israeli professional left in the SüperLig
Karzev’s departure comes just a few days after the incident involving his compatriot Sagiv Yehezkel, who played for Antalyaspor until recently. Last Sunday, Yehezkel held up his bandaged arm for the cameras after scoring the equalizer against Trabzonspor. It was handwritten in English with the words “100 days”, the date 7.10. and a Star of David. He was then taken into custody, but released a short time later. However, his contract with Antalyaspor was terminated without notice for “incitement to hatred”. Yehezkel returned to Israel.
His former Antalyaspor team-mate Ramzi Safuri is now the last remaining professional in the SüperLig. However, the attacking player is also already under scrutiny after he and Yehezkel boycotted a league-wide minute’s silence for Palestinian victims of the Middle East conflict in mid-October and refused to play in the match against Gaziantep.