Ataa Jaber

Jaber was born in Majd al-Krum, a town in the western Galilee.[1] He entered Maccabi Haifa's academy at the age of six and later joined the senior club as a professional player at 18.[5]

His route through Israeli league football included a half-season loan to Bnei Sakhnin in 2015. Bnei Sakhnin bought him in February 2017, and he remained with the club for three and a half seasons.[6] He made 110 Israeli Premier League appearances for Bnei Sakhnin as a defensive midfielder.[6][7] After leaving the club, he spent one season at M.S. Ashdod, recording 23 Premier League appearances, one goal, and one assist.[6]

Jaber was selected for Israel's under-21 national team in 2015 and went on to captain the side four times.[5]

Jaber later described tensions experienced by Arab players representing Israel. He said they were told that sport should not mix with politics, that they could provide a voice for their community, and that they were not required to sing the Israeli national anthem. He added that he believed there were better ways to represent the “Arabs of ’48” than wearing Israel's national-team uniform and standing for the anthem.[4]

On June 23, 2022, Jaber was presented as a new signing for Neftchi Baku, then the runner-up in Azerbaijan's top league. He signed a two-year contract, was assigned shirt number 23, and made his first move abroad. His first task with the club was a two-legged UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying tie against Aris Limassol.[6]

The path toward changing international allegiance began through a chance encounter. While playing for Bnei Sakhnin, Jaber met Palestinian national-team goalkeeper Rami Hamadeh, who informed him that a league existed in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and that a Palestinian national team was available for him to represent.[4] Until that conversation, Jaber said, he did not know the option existed and did not have a Palestinian passport. After deciding to switch teams, he waited nearly two years to obtain a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority, which was a prerequisite for representing Palestine.[4]

He linked the decision partly to events in Sheikh Jarrah, saying: "After what happened in Sheikh Jarrah, I realized that it was impossible to separate politics from sport."[4] He made his debut for the Palestinian national team on June 14, 2023, in a friendly against Indonesia.[5] Around the same period, two players from Israeli clubs were included in Palestine's squads for friendlies, providing context for Jaber's stated goal of showing players inside the Green Line that the option was available to them.[4]

By September 2025, Jaber was playing for the Doha-based Qatar Sports Club.[3] At that point, he had made 11 appearances for the Palestinian national team.[7]

Jaber's international career encompasses captaincy of Israel's under-21 team and later representation of Palestine.[5] In a November 2023 letter calling for the revocation of his citizenship, former footballer Amiya Taga described Jaber as the first Arab player to wear the captain's armband for Israel's under-21 team; Sport5 presented this as Taga's statement rather than an independent historical finding.[8]

By late September 2023, Jaber had played four matches for Palestine and was described as one of the team's central players ahead of the 2024 Asian Cup. His November 2023 World Cup qualifier against Lebanon was his fifth appearance.[9][2] The switch also gave practical force to his stated aim of showing other players inside the Green Line that representing Palestine was an available choice.[4]

Jaber's participation in Palestine's 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lebanon on November 16, 2023, generated sharp political backlash in Israel. The match, originally scheduled for Beirut, was moved to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates because of the war and was played without spectators. It ended 0–0; Palestinian players entered the field wearing keffiyehs, and a minute of silence was held in solidarity with Palestine. Jaber played all 90 minutes.[2]

Following the match, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar asked Interior Minister Moshe Arbel to revoke Jaber's Israeli citizenship, accusing the player of supporting Hamas terrorists.[3] Senior figures in Israeli football separately approached Interior Ministry officials to request that the matter be examined, while M.S. Ashdod, one of Jaber's former clubs, also called on the interior minister to consider revocation.[1] Former footballer Amiya Taga wrote an open letter to the interior and sports ministers urging the same course of action while acknowledging that Jaber held the rights attached to Israeli citizenship.[8] Jaber's player agency also announced that it had ended its relationship with him, and several Israeli footballers criticized him publicly.[2]

The reports documented requests and demands for revocation rather than a completed administrative action.[10][1] Critics characterized the calls to revoke his citizenship as racist.[10]

In September 2025, Jaber reposted an Instagram story featuring an infographic supporting the Global Sumud Flotilla, which sailed from Spain toward Gaza seeking to breach Israel's blockade.[3] The repost drew renewed media criticism in Israel.[3][7]