The British Paralympic wheelchair basketball team turning their backs on the Israeli team as "Hatikvah" played was "an attack on our dignity as players," Israeli wheelchair basketball player Ilay Yarhi told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. Yarhi has played abroad twice on the U22 national team and in August 2025 on the Israel national team.
As the Israeli national anthem played ahead of the game on Saturday, the British players turned away, something the Israeli team did not find out till after the match, as visiting teams are turned to the side.
"The strangest part was that throughout the whole game they treated us really well," Yarhi told the Post. "They laughed with us, talked to us, and just five minutes earlier, they had hurt us without us even knowing, because we were facing the other way as the visiting team."
When the Israeli team learned of the snub, they "felt like they were bringing unrelated issues onto the court and humiliating us," said Yarhi.
After the anthem incident, Yarhi said some of the Israeli players went to ask why they acted that way. "A few of them answered that it was a protest and a way of supporting world peace, that they were not in favor of war. Some wanted to come and talk and apologize, but we didn’t agree to that, because if you don’t respect us, you don’t deserve any respect in return."
According to Yarhi, one player sent a message a few hours later, "saying he supports mutual peace, no killing of children, and other arguments like that."
For Yarhi, the tournament felt very different from the ones he has participated in previously. "It was my first tournament where we didn’t leave the hotel at all: we were inside the whole time," he said. "I felt that after the anthem incident, there were more eyes on us, people were looking at us a bit differently."
The security around the Israeli team was "intense," he added, "with five bodyguards with us at all times, and we weren’t allowed to move even a meter without permission and without a guard."
Both teams will play again in upcoming championship
The Israeli team will likely be facing the same British team again at the upcoming European Championships (in October). The incident on Saturday has definitely changed the way the Israeli team will approach the next meeting, Yarhi told the Post.
"My teammates and I will come in with a totally different mindset." It’ll be interesting to see if they again disrespect our anthem, if they turn their backs on us again, and how we’ll respond this time now that we know it’s something that could very likely happen."
Snubbing aside, the Israeli team's successes should also be given due attention. Israel ParaSport Center - Ilay's training base - told the Post that the team played some of its best games in a long time against top world opponents.
"I think that even after the anthem incident, what we should remember is our professional side," Yarhi agreed. "We really took a huge step forward, stared world-class teams straight in the eye, and that’s thanks to very hard work. People understand what the path to success is and are doing everything for it. I think we looked good as a team, and together we’re capable of anything."
On a personal level, Yarhi said he is proud that he played well against top-level opponents, "because at the end of the day I’m only 20 years old, facing players much older than me."
"That required a lot of mental and physical work," he said.
His most seminal moment so far was his first basket for the senior national team, against Germany, he told the Post.
"You never forget your first points, and I think it will only give me more confidence," he said. "At that moment, I really understood that hard work pays off and that I can compete at the very highest level."