An anti-Israeli protest has started in Ireland against the appointment of Irish soccer legend Robbie Keane as coach of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club (Maccabi TLV FC). Many social media users are angry, calling him an “occupation” enabler.

Since his appointment in Israel, social networks have inundated Keane with condemnations, accusing him of supporting "war crimes against the Palestinians” and enabling “apartheid.” Some have gone so far as to call the massive metropolitan city of Tel Aviv as occupied. 

An Irish politician from the nationalist Sinn Féin party, Chris Andrews, known as a notorious anti-Israeli and anti-Semite who has previously shared neo-Nazi content, leads the anti-Israel protests against Keane on social networks, according to Walla! News.

The controversial politician involved in countless scandals in the past, Andrews has managed to influence hundreds, if not thousands, of Irish people to turn against the revered legendary player, until his appointment to Tel Aviv. Former admirers claim that he “destroyed” his legacy.

"I am very, very disappointed in Irish soccer icon Robbie Keane for signing with a racist club and apartheid team like Maccabi Tel Aviv," Andrews tweeted on Tuesday, after Keane's official press conference. In his rush to attack Israel, the Irish politician blindly tagged Tel Aviv’s basketball team rather than the soccer team.

"Keane can lead by example and boycott the apartheid state of Israel, but he consciously chooses not to," Andrews added. Keane, foreseeing the opposition, told the press conference that he had come to Israel to focus solely on soccer, not politics.

Meanwhile, Omer Atzili, a soccer player from Israel acquired by an Emirati club, had to be introduced as Romanian instead of his true nationality. He made history as the first Israeli Jew to play in an Arab country.