Israeli Premier League player Menashe Zalka is seen opening fire with Israeli army soldiers in an assault in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
An Israeli footballer dressed in a military uniform has been seen opening fire in southern Lebanon amid the US-Israel war on Iran, prompting calls from football officials and fans for FIFA to take action against him.<\/p>\n
Menashe Zalka, dressed in the Israeli army uniform, is seen opening fire from a machine gun and throwing a grenade in a social media video posted by Israel\u2019s Channel 14 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The video \u2013 verified by Al Jazeera \u2013 is purportedly from Israel\u2019s military assault in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Zalka, who plays for Hapoel Hadera in the Israeli Premier League, is enlisted in the army\u2019s paratrooper brigade as a reserve, according to reports in Israeli media.<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old is seen accompanied by another Israeli army soldier as they open fire from a damaged building in a residential area at an unspecified location in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Zalka has previously been part of Israel\u2019s genocidal war in Gaza, where he was among the reserves \u201cfor hundreds of days\u201d, according to a post by former member of the Knesset, Dov Lipman.<\/p>\n
A Palestinian football official has termed Zalka\u2019s involvement in the military assault \u201cunacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n
The video of Zalka\u2019s involvement in Israel\u2019s offensive in Lebanon has prompted football officials and fans to renew calls for FIFA to ban the Israeli Football Association (IFA), which was recently handed a fine<\/a> of 150,000 Swiss francs ($189,000) by the sport\u2019s global governing body.<\/p>\n FIFA\u2019s disciplinary committee found the IFA guilty of \u201cmultiple breaches\u201d of anti-discrimination obligations on March 19, but did not suspend the Israeli body despite calls from the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) and rights groups.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael\u2019s Channel 14 celebrates the trigger-happy captain of Hapoel Hadera, Menashe Zalka, as he throws a grenade and shoots around in southern Lebanon,\u201d PFA\u2019s Vice President Susan Shalabi wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n In October 2024, the PFA reported allegations of discrimination by the IFA to FIFA, which initiated an investigation but did not suspend the Israeli body, as requested by the Palestinian FA.<\/p>\n The IFA was found to have failed to \u201cabide by FIFA\u2019s statutory objectives\u201d, in a lengthy decision published by its disciplinary committee, which listed several incidents of racism in Israeli football.<\/p>\n