Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett Image by Getty Images

By Naomi Zeveloff February 19, 2017

More than half of the American pro football players who were supposed to tour Israel pulled out in rejection of the Israeli government using their visit to score public relations points.

Only five out the original group of 13 football players toured Israel after Palestinian rights activists circulated a letter urging them not to go, reported Haaretz. The letter received high profile signatures from the likes of Alice Walker, Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte.

The five football players who visited Israel were Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks, New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell, Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Dan Williams and Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett was the first player to back out of the trip, saying he refused to be “used” by the Israeli government for public relations purposes. Bennett’s brother Martellus Bennett, a tight end with the Super Bowl winning New England Patriots, also pulled out along with six others.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Minister had called the footballers’ invitation part of the “intensive fight against the delegitimization and BDS campaigns against Israel” in a press release.

Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount