Left-wing U.S. Jew buys Israeli soccer’s bastion of the right

By Ami Kaufman July 14, 2011 | Edit

A California Jew, who sits on the board of directors of the Israel Policy Forum, buys the most famous team in Israel, Beitar Jerusalem. Hopefully, he’ll do better in soccer than he did in politics… Running for office with the slogan “Send a mentsch to Congress”? I mean, come on…

Left-wing U.S. Jew buys Israeli soccer's bastion of the right

Teddy stadium, where Beitar Jerusalem plays (photo: flickr / Matthew Wilkinson)

Could this be the making of another Daniel in the Lion’s Den? Maybe, if calling him “Dan” is acceptable. Dan Adler, along with business partner Adam Levine, yesterday became the proud owners Israel’s most-famous soccer team, Beitar Jerusalem. (As far as I can tell, this is not the Adam Levine rock star from the band Maroon 5).

The club was owned until now by Arkady Gaydamak, a Russian oligarch who unsuccessfully tried to buy Israel (yes, you read that right). Beitar had one of its worst seasons ever last year, and just barely managed to stay in Israel’s premier league.

So, why is this a juicy story? Well, Beitar has for decades been associated with right-wing politics. Its fans are known to be the most racist in Israel, and that says a lot. They have been known to scream like monkeys when black players touch the ball, and chant “death to Arabs” when an Arab steps on to the field.

The people who lead these chants are usually fans belonging to a clandestine group called “La Familia.” This group has gotten Beitar into trouble a few times already, but they don’t really seem to care about the damage they do to their team. Although, they might care about Dan Adler taking over.

You see, Dan Adler, besides being a successful businessman and a not so good politician, serves on the board of the Israel Policy Forum, which supports a two-state solution. In other words, Dan Adler is a lefty traitor – in the eyes of La Familia, of course. The Walla! news site reported that one member of La Familia said: “We’ve been sold to the devil.”

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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