In an interview on the Israeli Basketball Association’s website, Israeli player Dor Saar said before the game: "It’s known that they are quite anti-semitic and it’s no secret, and maybe that’s why a strong game is expected.
“We have to show that we’re better than them and win. We talk about it among ourselves. We know they don’t love us and we will leave everything on the field always and in this game especially.”
Basketball Ireland’s statement prior to the start of the game read: "Basketball Ireland informed Fiba Europe yesterday that as a direct result of recent comments made by Israeli players and coaching staff - including inflammatory and wholly inaccurate accusations of anti-Semitism, published on official Israeli Federation channels - that our players will not be partaking in traditional pre-match arrangements with our upcoming opponents.
Did the volleyball players kill Palestinian children?
In addition to what Squizzy said, Israel has conscription, so there’s a very good chance these athletes are / were members of the IDF. So it is entirely possible that they did engage in atrocities against Palestinians.
Why did modern Germany engage in restitution after the war if the Nazi regime was finished the people did not support the actions of the government or in more recent cases, were not alive for the actions that part of their taxes go toward making up for?