--- title: Israeli Soccer Team Renames Itself After Donald Trump description: Beitar Jerusalem, the city's largest soccer club, will rebrand as “Beitar Trump Jerusalem,” the club has announced on Facebook canonical: https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-14T05:31:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:15:51.966Z article:section: World og:title: Israeli Soccer Team Renames Itself After Donald Trump og:description: Beitar jerusalem will now be known as 'Beitar Trump Jerusalem' og:url: https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6cdcb8679aeb73d/6989304e86f68edb636e927d/gettyimages-481673708.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: FBL-ISRAEL-BEL-CHARLEROI-BEITAR-RACISM-RIOT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Israeli Soccer Team Renames Itself After Donald Trump twitter:description: Beitar jerusalem will now be known as 'Beitar Trump Jerusalem' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6cdcb8679aeb73d/6989304e86f68edb636e927d/gettyimages-481673708.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # An Israeli Soccer Team Is Renaming Itself After U.S. President Donald Trump ## Video: Israel Is Celebrating the Opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem [Watch (HLS stream): Israel Is Celebrating the Opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LV7wSmdV.m3u8) (1:46)  _Published 2018-05-14. Israel on Sunday kicked off festivities to celebrate the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, even as it bolstered its forces along the Gaza border and in the West Bank in anticipation of mass Palestinian protests of the move._ by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler May 14, 2018 5:31 AM CUT  Supporters of Israeli football club Beitar Jerusalem cheer during their clubs return match against Belgium team Charleroi on July 23, 2015 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. Supporters of Israeli football club Beitar Jerusalem cheer during their clubs return match against Belgium team Charleroi on July 23, 2015 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.MENAHEM KAHANA—AFP/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler May 14, 2018 5:31 AM CUT An Israeli soccer team is so pleased by President Trump’s decision to relocate the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem that it’s decided to “honor” the president by adopting his name. Beitar Jerusalem, the city’s largest club, will [rebrand](https://www.facebook.com/BeitarFcJerusalem/photos/a.131664707004089.1073741829.131511473686079/699124603591427/?type=3&theater "undefined") as “Beitar Trump Jerusalem,” according to an announcement on the team’s official Facebook page Sunday. “President Trump has shown courage, and true love of the Israeli people and their capital, and these days other countries are following his lead in giving Jerusalem its rightful status,” the club wrote. “The football club Beitar Jerusalem, one of the most prominent symbols of the city, are happy to honor the President for his love and support with a gesture of our own.” > [](https://twitter.com/fcbeitar/status/995660234986311686) The statement comes ahead of the new diplomatic headquarter’s [official opening](http://time.com/5275751/israel-netanyahu-embassy-jerusalem-opening/ "undefined") today. President Trump announced his intention in December to [recognize Jerusalem](http://time.com/5044973/why-president-trumps-jerusalem-decision-could-derail-middle-east-peace-talks/ "undefined") as Israel’s official capital and relocate the American embassy there, calling the move “the right thing to do.” The decision [drew praise](http://time.com/5053704/trump-jerusalem-move-palestinians-israelis/ "undefined") from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and scorn from Palestinian groups and others who warned that it could derail [peace efforts](http://time.com/4823327/jared-kushner-middle-east-travel-peace-deal-israeli-palestinian/ "undefined"). The American embassy was previously in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital. Beitar Jerusalem is the only club in the Israeli Premier League to have never fielded an Arab Muslim player, and some of its fans have a reputation for anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice, the [_Times of Israel_](https://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-soccer-team-to-be-renamed-beitar-trump/ "undefined") reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/"},"headline":"An Israeli Soccer Team Is Renaming Itself After U.S. President Donald Trump","datePublished":"2018-05-14T05:31:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:15:51.966Z","description":"The club will now be known as “Beitar Trump Jerusalem”","url":"https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/","keywords":["Israel","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6cdcb8679aeb73d/6989304e86f68edb636e927d/gettyimages-481673708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd6cdcb8679aeb73d/6989304e86f68edb636e927d/gettyimages-481673708.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FBL-ISRAEL-BEL-CHARLEROI-BEITAR-RACISM-RIOT","caption":"FBL-ISRAEL-BEL-CHARLEROI-BEITAR-RACISM-RIOT","creditText":"MENAHEM KAHANA—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/israel/","name":"Israel"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/","name":"An Israeli Soccer Team Is Renaming Itself After U.S. President Donald Trump"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Israel Is Celebrating the Opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem","description":"Israel on Sunday kicked off festivities to celebrate the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, even as it bolstered its forces along the Gaza border and in the West Bank in anticipation of mass Palestinian protests of the move.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/LV7wSmdV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-05-14T05:03:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LV7wSmdV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/","duration":"PT1M46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5275814/israel-beitar-jerusalem-soccer-trump/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```