Does Puma Support Israel?

Does Puma Support Israel?

David Svetsky Updated Jul 26, 2026 3 min read

Short answer: As of July 2026, Puma (PUMA SE) is a German sportswear company, not an Israeli one, and it still does business in Israel through a wholly owned subsidiary, Puma Israel, that has operated since January 1, 2013. Puma was the technical sponsor of Israel's national football team from 2018, which made it a leading BDS boycott target, but that sponsorship ended on December 31, 2024. Puma is not known to have taken a political side or made corporate donations for or against Israel, so the viral "boycott Puma" lists mostly point at a sponsorship that no longer exists.

What the record actually shows

Strip away the social-media noise and only a few things about Puma and Israel are actually documented. Here is what the record shows, with sources:

  • A wholly owned Israeli subsidiary since 2013. On May 16, 2012, Puma announced it would set up a 100% owned subsidiary, Puma Israel, to take direct control of its business in the country, effective January 1, 2013, based in Herzliya Pituach with Guy Daneman as general manager (Puma SE newsroom). That operation, alongside a local licensee and distributor arrangement, is how Puma products reach Israeli shoppers today. There is no credible evidence Puma has divested from Israel.
  • National football team sponsor, 2018 to 2024. Puma became the technical sponsor of the Israel Football Association starting January 1, 2018, producing the national team's match kits under a deal that ran through the end of 2024 (Al Jazeera).
  • That sponsorship has ended. Puma's contract with the IFA formally concluded on December 31, 2024 (Ethical Consumer). Italian firm Erreà took over for 2025 at a smaller value (about 60,000 euros a year versus roughly 100,000 under Puma), and that deal proved short-lived, with a later switch to Reebok reported (NSS Sports).
  • No political statements, no documented donations. On the questions people ask most (corporate political stances, Israeli research and development or acquisitions, charitable donations to Israel), reputable reporting turns up nothing substantive in either direction. There is no verifiable record of Puma making corporate donations to Israeli causes, and equally none of it funding the other side. Puma has kept a neutral, no-political-stance posture, which is the accurate answer rather than active support.

Where the boycott talk comes from

Almost all of the "does Puma support Israel" heat traces to one thing: the football sponsorship. Because the IFA's league structure has included clubs located in West Bank settlements, the BDS movement made Puma its flagship apparel boycott target and ran a sustained campaign from 2019 for about five years (BDS Movement).

When Puma confirmed on December 11, 2023 that it would not renew, the two sides told different stories. Puma said the non-renewal was a routine portfolio decision under a "fewer-bigger-better" strategy, taken about a year before the October 2023 war and unrelated to boycott calls (TIME). The Israel Football Association itself rejected BDS's claim of credit, calling it "a pathetic attempt" at misleading public opinion, and reporting cited by the Times of Israel said the decision was made a year earlier and unrelated to the war (Times of Israel). BDS, for its part, credited its campaign. The motive is contested; the verifiable facts are the timeline and Puma's stated rationale, not the reason behind it.

What matters for anyone reading a boycott list today: it is largely anchored to a sponsorship that ended on December 31, 2024. And the sponsors who followed, Erreà and then Reebok, became the newer flashpoints, so a list that still names Puma for "sponsoring the Israeli team" is working from outdated information.

The bottom line

Puma is a German company that sells in Israel through a subsidiary it has run since 2013, so it does do business there. It does not take a political side, and it ended its highest-profile Israel tie, the national football team sponsorship (2018 to 2024), on December 31, 2024. If your question is whether Puma actively supports Israel, the honest answer is no, and neither does it oppose it. Anyone citing a current "Puma sponsors the Israeli team" boycott is working from outdated information.

Support Israel directly

If you want your money to back Israel plainly rather than parse a multinational's sponsorship contracts, that is a choice you can make on purpose. Every item in our Support Israel collection is designed and sold to stand with Israel openly, from IDF apparel to Star of David jewelry, with no ambiguity about where it stands.

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

David Svetsky

Shop Israel brings you meaningful Jewish jewelry, gifts, and Dead Sea care, made in and for Israel.