Short answer: Lionel Messi has never made a personal political statement about Israel or the Israel-Hamas war, and that silence has held through August 2026. What exists instead is a long paper trail of real, largely apolitical contact with Israel: a Western Wall visit with FC Barcelona, a competitive friendly played in Tel Aviv despite boycott pressure, two paid Israeli brand ambassadorships, and a widely reported moment where a hostage's grandmother invoked his name during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Messi is Catholic, not Jewish, so there is no personal Jewish-identity connection; the Israel ties run through soccer and commercial deals, not faith or politics. As of August 2026, that remains the full picture.
What Lionel Messi has actually said and done
- August 4, 2013: Messi visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem as part of an FC Barcelona "peace tour." The club also met Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and, at the President's Residence, President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The trip included skills clinics for both Israeli and Palestinian children, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
- June 2018: A planned Argentina-Israel friendly in Jerusalem was canceled after BDS-linked pressure. The Israeli embassy said threats specifically targeting Messi were a factor, and FIFA later suspended a Palestinian soccer federation official for threatening Messi over the prospect of the match, per a 2026 JTA explainer.
- November 2019: Messi played and scored in an Argentina-Uruguay friendly in Tel Aviv before roughly 29,000 fans, despite BDS-movement protests calling for the match to be moved or canceled, JTA reported.
- 2020: Messi signed a three-year contract to become a paid brand ambassador for OrCam, an Israeli company that makes assistive devices for the visually impaired. He had separately promoted Israeli tech firm Sirin Labs starting in 2017, according to the Jerusalem Post and JTA.
- October 7, 2023: During the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz, 90-year-old Ester Cunio, who was born in Argentina, responded to a Hamas gunman's question about Argentina by invoking Messi's name. The exchange turned into the gunman posing for a selfie with her rather than following through on plans to abduct her, according to JTA and the Times of Israel. Her grandsons, David and Ariel Cunio, were taken hostage that day.
- October 13, 2025: David and Ariel Cunio were released from Hamas captivity after 738 days, as part of the Gaza ceasefire hostage-release deal, the Times of Israel reported. Messi made no public statement tied to their release.
The context behind the headlines
Messi's connection to Israel runs entirely through soccer and commercial partnerships, not personal religious or political identification. He is Catholic, and multiple outlets that have examined the question "Is Messi a Zionist?" conclude there is no evidence he has ever personally endorsed Zionism, criticized Israel, or commented on the Israel-Hamas war. His known Israel-related activity spans more than a decade: the 2013 Barcelona "peace tour" including the Western Wall visit and meetings with Peres and Netanyahu, his 2014 support for a Pope Francis-organized "match for peace," the aborted 2018 Argentina-Israel friendly under BDS pressure, the 2019 Tel Aviv friendly he played in anyway, and paid ambassador deals with two Israeli tech firms.
The most emotionally resonant data point, and likely the one most readers haven't heard, is Ester Cunio's account that mentioning Messi's name may have helped her avoid abduction on October 7, 2023. Her grandsons were still taken hostage that day and held for nearly two years before their October 2025 release. Messi has not weighed in publicly on the war, the hostages, or the ceasefire. A June 2026 controversy in which an Algerian broadcaster accused a "Jewish lobby" of protecting Messi during a World Cup match shows the Israel association still attaches to him in public discourse, but it originated from a critic, not from Messi himself.
The bottom line
Messi has real, well-documented history with Israel: a Western Wall visit, a Tel Aviv match played despite boycott pressure, and two Israeli brand ambassadorships. But he has never personally spoken out in support of Israel or on the Israel-Hamas war, including staying silent on the Ester Cunio story and the eventual release of her hostage grandsons. He is Catholic with no Jewish-identity connection. The fairest characterization is that Messi has extensive, real contact with Israel through soccer and commercial deals, but has never personally endorsed the country or taken a political position on it, and that pattern has held steady for over a decade.
Show your own support for Israel
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
