This is an omission that may not be entirely unintentional. At a press conference following the good draw obtained by his team against the French team, at the Stade de France (0-0), the Israeli coach wanted to thank Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, but did not not cited Emmanuel Macron.
Returning to the welcome from France and the security system put in place to protect his players, Ran Ben Shimon had very strong words. “We thank the security services who protected us. We thank the French authorities. The security was extraordinary and fantastic. France was exceptional. We thank Mr Sarkozy and Mr Hollande.”
The two former Presidents of the Republic were present this Thursday evening in the well-stocked presidential gallery of the Dyonisian arena. They watched the match side by side. The omission of the Israeli coach is perhaps linked to the comments made by Emmanuel Macron in recent weeks on the subject of the conflict opposing Israel to Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and Lebanon which have caused a lot of ink to flow.
“I am not sure that we defend a civilization by sowing barbarism ourselves,” he declared in particular at the end of October, a few days after having told the Israeli Prime Minister: “Mr. Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the United Nations. A few hours before the match, however, he had affirmed his determination to ensure that everything went as smoothly as possible for the visiting team. “We will not give in to anti-Semitism anywhere and violence, including in the French Republic, will never prevail, and neither will intimidation.”
Regarding the match, the Israeli coach returned to the historical significance of his team’s match. “It’s an exceptional result,” he commented about the match itself. This is our first point in the Nations League. A point after a very good battle. We have a team that fights for the Israeli people. Our goalkeeper, Daniel Peretz, works hard, hence this result. I am very proud of this point. The chicken is very difficult. The objective was to move forward, to show our energy, to show football everywhere, not necessarily to take points. We showed the public that we can believe in this team. The community that supports us and has seen this result is important in our hearts. »
