DOHA – I’m one of some 15,000 Israelis who are taking advantage of the World Cup being held in the Middle East for the first time ever.
I arrived in Doha at the end of the week and was met by a country all spic-and-span in anticipation of the historic tournament.
While Israel does not have diplomatic relations with the Persian Gulf state, we Israelis entered the country and are attending the games using special FIFA Fan ID “Hay’ya” Cards.
What unites the Israelis who came is a deep love of football and the chance to see the top players in the world.
This is a unique World Cup because all eight stadiums are within a radius of about 100 km. of each other and there is no need for fans to fly, for example, from Los Angeles to New York to Chicago to Miami in order to see the games, which will be the case for the 2026 World Cup.
Upon arrival in Doha, everything seems to be working like clockwork. The metro system is efficient and able to transport the almost two million fans who will be arriving to the eight stadiums that will be hosting this World Cup.One does not see many of the local Arab inhabitants in their white robes on the streets of Doha.
But a lot of Spanish can be heard due to the thousands of Argentinian and Mexican fans who have already arrived. European fans are few and far between.
Many of the expatriates from the Indian subcontinent – a majority of the foreign workers in Qatar who number over three million out of the population of 3,600,000 inhabitants – have already purchased their tickets for the games and can be seen in the capital’s streets wearing T-shirts of various countries that they support.
A guide for Israelis in Qatar
And of course, there’s Hebrew. Having so many Israelis together in such close proximity is both heartwarming – and prone to calamity. Trying to preempt the chances of Israelis behaving like Israelis sometimes do abroad, the Foreign Ministry released a guide last week, instructing them on how to behave in Qatar.
Israel national soccer team captain Tal Ben Haim warned the Israeli travelers that drinking alcohol in public is illegal, as well as other infractions that would result in fines or even jail.
Those Israelis who keep kosher will be able to enjoy plenty of food, thanks to the effort of Rabbi Marc Schneier, who heads the Hampton Synagogue in Long Island, New York. He brought over and is supervising a team from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates who will facilitate the sale of kosher meat and other kosher products in the peninsular Arab country.
There is a fallacy that Qatar is an expensive country – but one can buy a plate of hummus, ful and a can of Pepsi for the equivalent of NIS 12.
All of the games are accessible, with the cheapest price being 250 Rial (about NIS 240) and the most expensive ticket set at 800 Rial (about NIS 760).
One must take into consideration that compared to prices of Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball, where the cheapest price for a ticket to a EuroLeague game is almost NIS 350, buying an inexpensive ticket for the World Cup is a bargain.Regardless of the effort and cost entailed to get here, now that the games are about to begin, it’s all worth it. And along with my fellow Israelis, we’re ready to join the world as it focuses on where we’ve chosen to spend the next few days and weeks.
The writer is a commentator on World Jewry who previously served as the spokesman to international media at the Jewish Agency for Israel.