“To the East”? Israeli Football’s Asian Period and Debates about the Jewish State’s Cultural Affiliations with the Continent

Israeli footballers played in Asia for two decades from the mid-1950s until the mid-1970s. During this period, Israeli soccer reached many achievements, and celebrated great victories. Being among the founding members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Israeli athletes won multiple tournaments on the continent and were greatly admired. But at the same time, they met with hostilities and boycotts, and were excluded from entire tournaments, until in August 1976, the AFC congress officially expelled the Israeli Football Association (IFA) from its ranks.
Tracing these experiences with all their ups and downs would be a fascinating story in its own right. Yet the issue of Israeli football was of significance beyond its sportive dimensions or even the question of the Jewish State’s cultural diplomacy. From early on, soccer activities in Asia were accompanied by discussions about the country’s membership in AFC and whether Israeli football should rather attach itself to European frameworks. These debates went far beyond the weighing of practical and sportive aspects of the questions. Against the backdrop of IFA’s regional affiliation, Israelis deliberated on their very place on the Asian continent. My paper traces these debates raging in the Israeli press at the time. The attitude towards Asia emerging from these discussions, I argue, was a highly ambivalent one that reflected deep insecurities about the Jewish State’s geo-cultural belongings and self-understanding.