This was unbelievable. I actually caught the end of it live on the Internet yesterday.
In an exhibition basketball game between Tel Aviv Maccabi and the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden, Israeli coach Pini Gershon refused to leave the court after being ejected by the referees. [It’s at 1:15 or so on the video]
Despite the attempts of Rabbi Dovid Grossman to intercede on behalf of Coach Gershon by arguing that the banished Israeli should be "forgiven" because it was just an exhibition game, and the shouts and heckling of the pro-Israeli crowd in support of the outrageous behavior of the Tel Aviv coach, the referees held firm. After more than ten minutes of bickering, the Israeli coach angrily left.
Just as his government behaves in the court of international law, on the West Bank, and on the military battlefield–this Israeli coach saw no reason to play by the rules, refusing to leave the arena after being ejected for unsportsmanlike behavior.
Let the actions of the referees be a lesson to those who must deal with the equally-recalcitrant Israeli government and its refusal to obey international rules of law.
Here is the New York Times report.
[Note to reader: Ira Glunts has lived in Israel.]
