Confusion Follows After Palestine Drops Motion to Suspend Israel

A measure on Friday to "solve [the] Israel-Palestine matter" ended in a baffling display of confusion that resulted in the Palestine Football Association dropping a motion to suspend Israel from FIFA only minutes prior to a vote during the organization's annual congress in Zurich, Switzerland.

Shortly after Palestine Football Association (PFA) president Jibril Rajoub dropped the motion, Israel Football Association (IFA) President Ofer Eini took the podium and asked Rajoub to come and shake hands. Rajoub remained at his seat, offering to shake his hand only after the vote had been taken on the remaining items. However, no one appeared to know what those items were.

Minutes later, embattled FIFA President Sepp Blatter tried to hold the vote, but was interrupted by distant shouting heard through his microphone. The PFA contingent stated that the motion couldn't be voted on point-by-point, as Blatter was attempting to do. Instead, the amendment had to be voted on in its entirety. Again, few people seemed to know precisely what the amendment stated.

Shortly after, Blatter forced the motion to vote, and it passed with 90 percent in favor. It was then that the FIFA Twitter account stated the motion was to "solve [the] Israel-Palestine matter." At that point, IFA President Eini went over to the PFA contingent and shook Rajoub's hand.

This non-resolution comes during one of the most eventful weeks in FIFA history. In light of the arrests of FIFA officials in Zurich, the PFA's motion evolved into a bargaining chip in the Presidential election rather than a standalone issue.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, Sepp Blatter vocally supported removing the item from the agenda. "Football is more than a game. Football has the power to connect people. Football has the power to construct bridges," he said. "Football shall unite people and not divide people."

Yet, Israeli football officials told Israeli media outlet ONE that Blatter "sold us out. He is the reason why everything is happening now." Indeed, the indictment seems to have been a turning point in the negotiations.

Blatter's incentives to flip on the issue are clear. In a related twist, the PFA announced it would vote for the reform candidate in today's FIFA election, Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein from Jordan, rather than the 18-year incumbent Blatter, a longtime supporter of Palestine and one of the main forces behind the PFA's admittance to FIFA in 1998.

With dozens of nations vocally supporting Prince Ali, Blatter could no longer assume his presidency was safe. Since his supporter base resides in Africa and Asia, Blatter couldn't risk angering them by lobbying against an important issue to them.

Meanwhile, both sides claimed to have Prince Ali's support.

If Palestine had taken the suspension to a vote, they may have been close to the necessary support for the motion to pass. According to a source with intimate knowledge of the negotiations, Rajoub believed Israel had a mere 28 votes against suspension, with the rest up in the air. Palestinian officials also believed they had the support of some unlikely UEFA members, including Sweden, Belgium, and Holland. Despite the support, the PFA believed it had a majority in favor, but not the required 75 percent for the motion to pass.

Russia had also decided to vote against Israel, according to the source, due to Israel's lack of support for their invasion of Crimea. As a result, Russia has asked several former Soviet countries to vote for the Palestinian measure as well. In turn, Ukraine decided to side with Israel.

The Palestinian lobbying efforts were largely organized by Fatah, the Western-backed political party controlling the West Bank, of which PFA President Jibril Rajoub is a senior official. According to the source, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been intimately involved in the negotiations despite not traveling to Zurich.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done his own lobbying through the press, telling the media, "The attempt to hurt Israel politically will destroy FIFA, because it will start with Israel and then go to one country, and then the next."

The Palestinians view this initiative as a huge success and plan to continue to use sports to raise awareness for the situation. In addition to his role with the PFA, Rajoub also leads the Palestine Olympic Committee. According to the source, the Palestinians plan to take the issue to the International Olympic Committee next.

"This is the new diplomatic war."