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Israel’s women’s basketball team secured a resounding 87-55 victory over Ireland at their Thursday afternoon EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in the Latvian capital Riga amid palpable tensions between the two sides off the court.
Most notably, the Irish team refused to shake hands with the Israelis before the contest began.
Ireland has been one of the least sympathetic of the EU’s member states towards Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom and Israel’s military response, with the government demanding a ceasefire and public opinion firmly on the side of the Palestinians.
Widespread calls within Ireland for a boycott of the game with Israel were held off by Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan, who warned in an interview with national broadcaster RTE on Wednesday that the sport would lose a “generation of players” if the fixture failed to go ahead.