Israel PM defends measures on movement of Palestinian footballers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Sunday that Israel "needs not to justify" its moves in the occupied Palestinian territories, after FIFA voted to establish a committee to look into restrictions on freedom of movement of the Palestinian football players.

"We did not err, we did not do wrong. We are put up to standards that no other democracy must face. We do not need to justify ourselves," Netanyahu told his ministers at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

FIFA agreed on Friday to set up an international monitoring committee for Israeli and Palestinian football, after the Palestinians dropped their motion to suspend Israel from international football as part of a compromise amidst international pressures.

It took a "great international effort" to foil the Palestinian move, he said, denouncing it as a "campaign to sully Israel's image."

"The last thing that we need to do is to bow our heads and ask where we erred, where we went wrong," the hawkish prime minister added.

The Palestinian bid to expel Israel from FIFA was placed by Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub in protest at restrictions on the movement of players from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and racism against Arabs in football matches in Israel.

Rajoub withdrew its motion shortly before it was up for voting in Zurich, amidst heavy pressures by Israel's allies and FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

The international FIFA committee will include football figures from both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority. Endit