England ban Israel flags and will not light up Wembley arch

The Wembley arch will not be lit in the colours of Israel and supporters will have flags confiscated when England play Australia on Friday night. Lord Triesman, the Jewish former FA chairman and ex-government minister, said the Wembley arch “absolutely should” have been lit in the colours of Israel’s flag. He also branded the FA’s statement “a weak attempt to placate the people who were understandably critical” of its prior silence, adding: “Once the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and the Foreign Secretary and the Shadow Foreign Secretary and the members of the major smaller parties have all said this is an appalling act of terrorism – and when you know the detail, the more appalling it is – I think that they thought, ‘Oh, God, we’d better do something’.” Comparing the leadership shown by the FA to that of England manager Gareth Southgate when it came to his players’ desire to support certain causes – which have included their controversial decision to take a knee during games at the height of the furore over Black Lives Matter – Lord Triesman said: “In this case, what we find is that the football authorities will go to almost any lengths not to do that.” Chelsea Jewish Supporters Group posed on X: “This spineless response is why we need people to speak out against terrorism.” Health minister Neil O’Brien became the first member of the Government to hit out, posting on X: “The FA put BLM logos on shirts & got players taking the knee to support BLM. “Just as they did after the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels, they should be lighting the arch to remember the victims of terrorism.” Brendan Clarke-Smith, the Conservative MP, posted simply, “Shameful response”, while colleague Mark Jenkinson wrote: “ The FA are quite the outfit… BLM support, taking the knee – and now this.” The Government itself did not immediately comment but Health Secretary Steve Barclay earlier joined calls for the Wembley arch to be lit up in blue and white on Friday, telling Sky News: “We should make clear our strong support for Israel.” He added: “We stand with Israel, and I think we’ve seen that with Parliament, we’ve seen it with Number 10. “I think it would be fitting to show that with Wembley as well.” Claudia Mendoza, the co-chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: “Did the FA send solidarity to Russians who were impacted by Ukrainian response to its invasion?” Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies, said: “After the Bataclan massacre in 2015, when 90 were murdered at a Paris nightclub, La Marseillaise was played at every Premier League stadium the following weekend.