Wednesday briefing: Making sense of the Maccabi Tel Aviv saga, where law and disorder fumbled with fandom

In today’s newsletter: Inside a tortuous political saga where fandom and antisemitism once again became a political footballGood morning. In the end, the decision that capped the controversy over the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans attending their away match against Aston Villa was taken not in Birmingham, or even Westminster – but Tel Aviv. On Monday night, a statement on the team’s website said the club would be declining any allocation even if the ban was reversed. Because of “hate-filled falsehoods”, it added, “a toxic atmosphere has been created, which makes the safety of our fans wishing to attend very much in doubt”.That means that the government’s efforts to make their attendance possible are now academic. But it also heads off a potential nightmare scenario for those in the UK who have decried the ban: Maccabi fans being allowed to attend, and serious disorder breaking out as a result.UK news | Family courts will no longer work on the presumption that having contact with both parents is in the best interests of a child, in a landmark change that domestic abuse campaigners have said “will save so many children’s lives”.Ukraine | Plans to hold a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest have been put on hold as Ukraine and its European allies rallied in pushing for a ceasefire without territorial concessions from Kyiv. Last night, Russian drones and missiles killed two people in Kyiv and damaged key energy facilities.Covid inquiry | Boris Johnson has rejected claims that his government failed to prepare for school closures at the outbreak of the pandemic, telling the Covid-19 inquiry that it would be “amazing” if the Department for Education (DfE) had not realised that plans were needed.Environment | Coal use hit a record high around the world last year despite efforts to switch to clean energy, imperilling the world’s attempts to rein in global heating, according to the annual State of Climate Action report published on Wednesday.Business | Almost half a million workers are to receive a pay boost after it was announced that the real living wage paid voluntarily by 16,000 UK companies will rise to £13.45 an hour in April.You have to understand that as the politics of Israel changes, so do the politics of the Ultras. They are organised young men, many of whom have been in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] because of conscription, and what they say and chant tracks where the country is.’As a result, he said, there is a much stronger ultra-nationalist element within the Maccabi fanbase today. ‘That isn’t something about the club, per se. It’s something about how Israel is changing.’ Continue reading...