Calling for the "erasure of Gaza," a German club backs out of signing an Israeli player.

Israeli striker Shon Wiseman

Calling for the "erasure of Gaza," a German club backs out of signing an Israeli player.

The German newspaper Bild reported that Fortuna Düsseldorf, a second-division club in the German Bundesliga 2, has decided to back out of signing Israeli striker Shon Wiseman, following a wave of public outrage over his social media posts about the Gaza war.

Wiseman, who currently plays for Granada in Spain, had already undergone a medical in Düsseldorf and was close to officially signing for the club. However, the German club published a brief statement on the X platform on Tuesday, saying: "We carefully examined the deal for Shon Wiseman, but ultimately decided not to proceed with the contract."

The club did not explain the reasons for the decision, but Bild newspaper confirmed that the move came in response to intense online public outcry after the discovery of old posts by Weissmann dating back to the aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In these posts, he called for "wiping Gaza off the map" and dropping "200 tons of bombs on it," according to the newspaper.

It was also reported that the player had liked posts stating that "there are no innocent people in Gaza" and that "there is no need to warn them." Weissmann later deleted the posts, stating that they were posted in a "moment of anger" and describing what happened as a "mistake." Angrily, fans in Düsseldorf launched an online petition, calling Weissmann's statements "insulting and discriminatory," and inconsistent with the club's "values and principles."

According to Bild, the club was scheduled to issue a joint apology statement with the player after the contract was signed, but the final decision was to cancel the deal entirely. It's worth noting that Weizman, 29, who has 33 caps for the Israeli national team, has previously faced protests from Granada fans due to his political stances.