Argentine President Mauricio Macri poses with players and coaching staff before the departure of Argentina's national soccer team for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup, in Ezeiza, Argentina, on May 30, 2018. (Xinhua/Argentina's Presidency)
JERUSALEM, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Israel was in uproar on Wednesday over Argentina's cancellation of a friendly football match, with officials blaming Palestinian pressure as the cause for the cancellation.
The Argentine team and its captain Lionel Messi have a tremendous popularity in Israel. The sold-out World Cup warmup match was scheduled to take place at Jerusalem's Teddy Kollek Stadium on Saturday.
Argentina initially agreed to play in Haifa, a coastal city in northern Israel, but Israel insisted on holding the match in contested Jerusalem.
Following a Palestinian campaign, which included rallies with Argentina's team shirt stained with red paint, the football federation of the South American country announced it was "suspending" the event.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu phoned Argentina's President Mauricio Macri and urged him to intervene, but the president told him his hands were tied, according to a statement released by Netanyahu's office.
Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev said BDS "terrorist groups" had threatened Argentina's players and their families, causing them to fear of coming to Israel.
The cancellation is seen as a major win for BDS, pro-Palestinian boycott activists who are part of an international campaign promoting Palestinian rights.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman accused Argentina's players of caving to anti-Israeli pressures.
"It's unfortunate the soccer knights of Argentina did not withstand the pressure of the Israeli-hating inciters, whose only goal is to harm our basic right to self-defense and bring about the destruction of Israel," Lieberman said in a statement.
On the other hand, the Palestinians welcomed the move as a significant triumph.
Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestinian football association, thanked the Argentine football federation.
"The Israeli government exerted pressure to transfer the game from Haifa to Jerusalem in order to mark the 70th anniversary of Israel's independence, in the name of the 'unity' of Jerusalem and in honor of the transfer of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem," he said in a press conference.
Israel seized east Jerusalem, together with the rest of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East war. It annexed east Jerusalem, a predominantly Palestinian area, shortly after the war, claiming it part of its "indivisible united capital."
The relocation of the U.S. embassy in May was the first international recognition in the annexation.
