HUNDREDS of campaigners have written to Wales Netball, urging its backing in the call for the removal of the Israeli Netball team from the Euro Netball competition and any potential future competitions. 

They have also written to Euro Netball calling for the exclusion of Israel from the competition, a copy has been sent to Welsh government Sports Minister Jack Sargeant MS, and sports committee chairman in the Senedd, Delyth Jewell MS. 

The letters come following news that Wales plans to welcome the Israeli Netball team to play at the Cardiff City House of Sport for the Europe Netball Open event, between May 7-11 2025, despite the rampage going on in Palestine.

Zahid Noor from Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Cymru said: “Hosting Israel’s team sportswashes apartheid, illegal occupation and genocide. Netball Israel includes players from illegal settlements — built on stolen Palestinian land.

“Israel’s leaders have had arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, and the International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s military conduct in Gaza is plausibly a genocide. Netball cannot be complicit in war crimes.

“The matches must be cancelled, and Israel’s team must be suspended. Wales Netball has told us they are not the organisers of the event, and that they will keep a watch on any decision Euro Netball makes, but this is not good enough. They need to remove themselves from this tournament. Nothing about this complies with the Future Generations Act, which these bodies are bound by, and are signed up to supporting.”

Israeli attacks killed scores of more people over the last couple of days, with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir claiming that top US Republican lawmakers support bombing “food and aid depots” in Gaza. 

PSC Cymru said that given Israel’s refusal to listen to the calls of the international community to protect the human rights and lives of Palestinians in Gaza, “it was right that […] Israel’s participation in major international sporting events was reviewed.”

Clive Haswell, co-chair of Cardiff PSC, said: “Apartheid in Israel is well established and discriminates against a section of the population, who are segregated and not allowed to participate in normal life, including sport.”

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “Plaid Cymru believes that suspension from international sporting competitions is a legitimate way to apply diplomatic pressure to states which violate international humanitarian law. This was the case when organisations such as Fifa, Uefa and the International Olympic Committee suspended Russia from their competitions, following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.”

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding member of the Palestinian-led BDS movement, highlighted Israel Netball’s “direct involvement” in Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity, stating that nearly half of its teams were based in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land, a war crime under international law.