MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised "a number of measures" to support Palestinian football in a meeting with FIFA head Sepp Blatter on Tuesday, after Palestinians called for suspension of Israel from the football federation.
"I want you also to know that we're helping Palestinian football among other things because of things that you have raised with us and we're going to discuss with you measures that we think would further help the situation," Netanyahu said in a meeting, as quoted by the Haaretz newspaper.
Netanyahu stated that sport could not be politicized. In turn, Blatter said in a statement that football should connect people and not divide them.
Palestinians seek to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip requesting Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories it took after the 1967 war.
Israel has been building settlements on the occupied areas, consistently disregarding objection from the United Nations.
