Does Mohamed Salah Support Israel?

Zach Mandel Feb 25, 2025 Updated Aug 07, 2026 4 min read

Short answer: No. Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian footballer, does not support Israel. His public record runs the opposite direction: he has avoided handshakes with Israeli players, donated to Gaza relief, repeatedly criticized how Gaza casualties (including a fellow footballer) were covered or memorialized, and has never made a statement of support for Israel. His comments are framed as humanitarian appeals for Gaza and are read across mainstream coverage as critical of Israel's conduct, not neutral. As of August 2026.

What Mohamed Salah has actually said and done

2013 (reported January 2014): While playing for Switzerland's Basel against Maccabi Tel Aviv in a Champions League qualifier, Salah avoided the pre-match handshake with Israeli players, staying off to the side to change his cleats. In the return leg in Israel he gave a fist bump instead of a handshake and was booed by Maccabi fans, according to The Times of Israel and Haaretz.
October 18-19, 2023: Amid the Israel-Hamas war and the Al-Ahli hospital explosion in Gaza City, Salah posted a video statement saying "the massacres need to stop, families are being torn apart" and that humanitarian aid to Gaza "must be allowed immediately," calling on world leaders to "prevent further slaughter of innocent souls," as reported by Al Jazeera.
Mid-October 2023: Salah announced a personal donation, made through his agent Ramy Abbas, to the Egyptian Red Crescent to fund medical and nutritional aid for people in Gaza. The Egyptian Red Crescent publicly thanked him for the contribution, per The National.
December 25, 2023: In a Christmas message to fans, Salah asked people not to forget Palestinians in Gaza and "not get used to their suffering" as the war continued, according to Anadolu Agency.
August 9-10, 2025: After Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid, known as "the Palestinian Pele," was killed by Israeli fire near a Gaza aid distribution site on August 6, 2025, along with at least 18 others, UEFA posted a tribute that did not mention how he died. Salah publicly challenged UEFA on X, asking "Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?", a post that drew wide support and renewed attention to his stance, as covered by Al Jazeera.
March to August 2026: Liverpool announced in March that Salah, 34, would leave at the end of the season by mutual agreement; in August he signed a two-year deal with Trabzonspor in Turkey. This is a career transition, not an Israel-related event, but it confirms he is active and in the public eye as of this writing, per The Times of Israel.

The fuller picture

Salah, an Egyptian Muslim, has never made a statement supporting Israel or Israeli policy. The pattern across more than a decade of public record is consistent: as a young player in 2013 he avoided shaking hands with Israeli opponents; through the Gaza war beginning in October 2023 he made repeated humanitarian appeals, never framed as pro-Israel and read by mainstream outlets as implicitly critical of Israel's military conduct; he donated to Gaza relief through the Egyptian Red Crescent; and in August 2025 he publicly pressed UEFA over how it handled the death of a Palestinian footballer killed near a Gaza aid site.

One episode that circulated widely online in October 2025, showing Salah walking past a fan holding out a Palestine national-team shirt for an autograph without stopping, generated debate about whether it signaled a shift. That footage was never confirmed or explained by any wire service or major outlet checked for this piece; the coverage was limited to social media and regional aggregator sites, some of which noted that UEFA rules restrict political displays in stadium areas. Because no reputable outlet established his intent, we are leaving it out of the sourced record above.

Separately, in 2018 Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman jokingly tweeted that he would "call the chief of staff" to try to recruit Salah into the Israeli army after a standout Champions League performance. That was admiration for his skill from an Israeli official, not any gesture from Salah toward Israel, and it predates the war entirely.

There is no verified Jewish-identity connection for Salah, no record of him attending a pro-Israel event, donating to an Israeli or Jewish-Israeli cause, or opposing boycott activity targeting Israel. His public stance is best described as pro-Palestinian and humanitarian in framing, and in the specific interactions on record (the 2013 handshake avoidance, the 2025 exchange with UEFA) it has put him at odds with Israeli institutions and actions.

The bottom line

Mohamed Salah does not support Israel. His public record, from a 2013 handshake avoidance with Israeli players through repeated Gaza-focused humanitarian statements and a 2025 public rebuke of UEFA's handling of a Palestinian footballer's death, shows consistent alignment with Palestinian causes and no instance of support for Israel.

Wear where you stand

Whatever any given athlete's politics turn out to be, plenty of people would rather let their own answer speak for itself. If that is you, our I Stand With Israel collection is a straightforward way to say it, on a shirt, a bracelet, or a piece of jewelry you can wear every day.

Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.