Israeli Basketball Team’s US Players Not Returning Amid War Fears — Team Says Israeli-Born Players Are More Used to It

The Israeli Basketball Premier League is currently facing the absences of multiple players due to security concerns amid the Israel-Hamas War. One team is currently without so many players it had to make a series of one-month signings to start the Israeli season, according to Reuters.

The defending Israeli Cup champion Hapoel Jerusalem is currently scrambling to field a team for its Israeli season opener on Tuesday after seven foreign players have not returned to the country over concerns of the violence in the region.

"The players expressed their deep concern about the security situation in Israel and said that they do not feel safe playing in Israel as early as next week," the team said in a statement on Saturday.

Hapoel's players planned to fly back last week. However the American players, including former Alabama men's basketball player Levi Randolph who played for the Crimson Tide from 2011-15, are staying out of Israel after a Hamas shooting attack in Jerusalem on Thursday, in which four Israelis were killed. Randolph was the top scorer in the Basketball Champions League in 2022.

Hapoel Jerusalem head of communication Roi Cohen said the team's Israeli players had returned home because they were used to security issues and going into shelters when rockets were fired into Israel, per Reuters.

"But for foreigners, American guys, they don't have to put themselves in that situation and expect them to come back to Israel, which is in a state of war," Cohen said.

The team announced it had signed three players to one-month contracts to fill the void in their lineup for the time being, in a post on X (formerly Twitter). These players are forward Joe Alexander, centre Storm Warren and guard Arad Harari.

"It's not a good situation for the league, but we know that they did everything to get the players to come, but they are afraid and don't want to come," an Israeli basketball league spokesman told Reuters. "We have no doubt that as the league progresses, the situation will become clearer and players will come."

Israel and Hamas agreed to a short-term extension of the Gaza ceasefire on Nov 29, according to reports from Doha, where Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators brokered an agreement.