“I think the games should go ahead, and I think the home game should have been played in Dublin. That’s my opinion,” Cunningham said.
Kenny Cunningham
(Photo: Vladimir Rys/Getty Images)
Israel and Ireland are scheduled to meet twice in the coming weeks. The first match will take place on September 27 in Debrecen, Hungary, while Ireland’s home fixture, originally set for Dublin, has been relocated to Bačka Topola in Serbia on October 4 and will be played without spectators.
The Football Association of Ireland previously cited “operational challenges that may impact the staging of the fixture” in explaining the decision.
Cunningham, who captained Ireland during his playing career and faced Israel in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, said Ireland’s position toward Israel and the Palestinian issue was already well understood and that moving the match would do little to change the debate.
“There is a perception of how the Irish people feel about Israel, Israeli foreign policy and the Palestinian issue. That’s already out there,” he said. “We all know where people stand, so I don’t feel that canceling the game advances that debate.”
He said he would have preferred to see the Israeli national team take the field at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and hear its anthem treated with respect.
“I think it would be good to see the Israeli national team walk out onto the pitch at the Aviva,” Cunningham said. “I think it would have been good to hear the Israeli national anthem respected inside the Aviva, because for me that would have sent a message, perhaps from the Irish people to Israelis who have also suffered during this conflict.”
“On a human level, we’re actually together here,” he added. “There are politicians making decisions around this issue, but really, between Israelis and Irish people, there is a degree of understanding on a human level about what has happened.”
Cunningham argued that Irish supporters could recognize what Israelis experienced on October 7 without that being interpreted as support for the Israeli government or its conduct of the war.
“We’ll respect your national anthem for those reasons. We’ll respect what you went through on October 7, the people you lost in horrific circumstances, which led to this current phase of the conflict,” he said.
He also pointed to divisions within Israeli society, saying some Israeli players may themselves oppose their government’s policies.
“The Irish public can show respect to Israelis, some of whom may even agree to some extent with the views of the Irish people,” Cunningham said. “Maybe some of the Israeli players are disgusted with their government and the conflict. It’s complicated, but I think the game should have been played in Dublin.”
Cunningham acknowledged that he did not have an answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but said removing the match from Ireland was not a constructive step.
“I’m not sure what the answer is to the conflict, but I don’t think stopping the Israelis from playing a game in Dublin, or even canceling the game, advances anything in a positive direction.”