Aside from the match itself, which was a disappointment whether you were rooting for England or Israel, the England team's visit to Israel this weekend was a huge success. The English fans enjoyed themselves and the Israelis enjoyed hosting them, amazed by just how much beer they could pour down their throats. At a post-match breakfast hosted by the Olswang law firm, a relieved Tom Phillips, the British ambassador, told me that the only consular matters the embassy had had to deal with in terms of the visiting England fans were two cases of lost passports. For the space of a weekend, Israel became a "normal" country, where football, in the words of legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly was a matter of more importance than life or death. And that is definitely a result.
This post was written by Jeff Barak
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