AI generated image depicting Lionel Messi and Benjamin Natanyahu standing before a wall of surveillance screens displaying maps, surrounded by armed personnel, drones, and a large crowd waving Israeli flags. Photo: MintPress News.
By Alan MacLeod – Jul 15, 2026
The world’s eyes will be on Lionel Messi on Wednesday night, as Argentina face England in the World Cup semi-final. The diminutive superstar has gained a massive following across the planet, not least in Israel, thanks to his numerous business and security connections with the Apartheid State. From being the face of an Israeli A.I. company led and run by Israeli spies, entrusting his private security to a team of Israel secret agents, MintPress explores the reasons why Benjamin Netanyahu considers him to be his favorite football player.
Palling Up With Ex-Israeli Spooks
As the world’s foremost football star, Lionel Messi is understandably protective of his image. The Argentinian forward carefully picks and chooses whom he is associated with, and has signed lucrative long-term deals with enormous global brands, such as Adidas, Pepsi, and Mastercard.
That is why many were surprised when, in 2020, he announced a partnership with OrCam, a relatively small Israeli A.I. firm that makes wearable artificial vision devices (similar to Google Glass). OrCam markets itself as helping visually impaired people live more fulfilling lives. Messi became its global brand ambassador and the face of the company.
More controversially, however, OrCam is an outgrowth of the Israeli national security state, employing dozens of former agents of Israeli military spying agency, Unit 8200, many in highly influential positions. Chief among these is Adi Levitski, a longtime intelligence officer with Unit 8200, who, in 2024, was appointed director of operations at OrCam.
Many OrCam staff were commanders in the shadowy spy agency, responsible for some of the worst crimes of the post-October 7 2023 war, as well as many of the most scandalous international hacking and surveillance operations. Mor Shamy, for example, rose to become head of intelligence analysis at Unit 8200 by 2015, and would later be hired as an algorithm developer at OrCam. Working alongside him was Matan Albeck, the former head of Unit 8200’s data analysis department.
Despite major layoffs in recent years, the company continues to be largely staffed by former spooks, with a revolving door existing between the two entities. Some, such as Eliya Segev and Eli Corn, went from OrCam into Unit 8200, while Amitai Edrei’s resume show that he worked for both OrCam and Unit 8200 at the same time, underscoring the close relationship between the two.
For Messi, this should have been a major red flag in working with OrCam, as Unit 8200 is the prime designer and operator of Israel’s hi-tech genocide in Gaza and beyond. And its agents are responsible for producing much of the world’s most invasive spyware.
Using big data collected by its massive digital Palestinian dragnet, the organization created massive A.I.-generated kill lists of Gazans, and carried out tens of thousands of drone bombing operations that was the centerpiece of the destruction in Gaza.
Its agents also developed highly-invasive spyware, such as Pegasus, which was used to spy on tens of thousands of foreign leaders, journalists, activists, and human rights advocates across the world. The Israeli government sold Pegasus to dictatorships and authoritarian regimes globally, helping them crack down on human rights. Perhaps the most well-known case of this was Saudi Arabia, who used Pegasus to monitor Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, before dismembering him with a bone saw in their embassy in Türkiye.
It is, therefore, highly questionable that Messi should decide to become the face of such a company.
Messi’s Israeli Handlers
The Argentinian has made multiple visits to Israel during his career. In 2013, he and his club, F.C. Barcelona, went to Israel and Palestine on a supposed “Peace Tour.” During his trip, he met and talked with Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres, and glad-handed with IDF soldiers. He also donned a yarmulke and visited the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.
Even after leaving, however, Messi takes a small part of Israel with him everywhere he goes. His security is handled by an elite force of former Israeli agents, who plan his every move, especially internationally. He takes his security very seriously, even missing his sister-in-law’s wedding in Argentina due to safety concerns.
Those same Israeli forces were in charge of security at his own 2017 wedding, ESPN reports, although it did not detail whether those agents are from the Mossad, Shin Bet, or an elite commando group.
Messi, who avoids political controversies, has not made any statements on Israel/Palestine since October 7, 2023, despite many (false) stories suggesting otherwise.
The Inter Miami forward left an impression on Netanyahu when the pair met in 2013. In a recent interview, Netanyahu revealed that he is supporting Argentina at this year’s World Cup. “He’s 39 years old now,” he said of Messi; “They are lucky to have such and experience player who knows how to score goals.”
The Israeli public clearly agree. A recent poll found that 38% of Israel are actively supporting Argentina at the tournament – well ahead of second place Brazil. Yoav Berkowitz, head of sports at Israeli public broadcaster Kan, stated that this was due in no small part to the Messi effect.
Zionist Brothers
Others, including Netanyahu himself, cite Argentinian president Javier Milei as another factor. Since coming to power in 2023, Milei has made support for Israel a central pillar of his political platform. Internationally, Israel has few friends left. But Milei’s Argentina has emerged as among its most vocal backers. In May 2024, it voted against an overwhelmingly popular United Nations vote to elect Palestine as a full member of the body. Four months later, it did the same with a resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
His government also declared Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Quds Forces terrorist organizations, and cheered on the US/Israel attack on Iran, Milei himself calling it the “right thing to do.” Argentina also stated that it would move its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, thereby effectively legitimizing the occupation. The move was paused, however, after Israeli oil firm Navitas announced it would begin drilling near the Falklands/Malvinas – a group of islands controlled by the United Kingdom but claimed by Argentina.
On a personal level, Milei has distanced himself from Catholicism (the dominant religion in Argentina) and all but declared himself a Jewish convert. Earlier this year, he described himself as “the most Zionist president in the world.”
“Milei is a great friend of Israel,” Netanyahu said, adding: “He’s a superstar, he really is. He’s done amazing things with their economy by adopting the free market.”
Journalist Sebastián Salgado: Milei is a Zionist Creation to Occupy Argentina
How Israel Helped Argentina Massacre Its Jewish Population
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has lost massive amounts of public support across the world, even in Western nations. A 2025 YouGov survey found that more than 20 times as many Italians, for instance, hold “very unfavorable” (43%) views of Israel than “very favorable” ones (2%). Even in Germany, where popular support for Israel is highest, only 21% said they hold favorable opinions of the state (including only 4% highly favorable), with 65% displaying open opposition (including 32% who strongly dislike it).
It is widely claimed that October 7 was the largest slaughter of Jewish people since the Holocaust. This, however, is not the case. In fact, the fascist military dictatorship that ruled Argentina in the 1970s and 1980s relentlessly persecuted Jews, killing or “disappearing” thousands.
Taking inspiration from Hitler and the Nazis, the dictatorship equated Judaism with socialism, and rounded up and killed huge numbers of political opponents, even turning football stadiums into makeshift death camps. Many of those involved were the sons of German Nazis who escaped to Argentina after the end of the Second World War.
Israel actively helped the dictatorship with their slaughter, selling them sophisticated military hardware, and upping their levels of military assistance even as attacks on the country’s Jewish community increased.
A Love Hate Relationship
While Israel is supporting Argentina, the goodwill is certainly not reciprocated, no matter Milei’s attempts. A recent Pew poll found that the majority of Argentinians hold a negative view of Israel, including 34% who have highly unfavorable opinions of the country – seven times that who reportedly hold very positive views of Israel (5%).
In this respect, they are taking after another Argentinian footballing sensation: Diego Maradona. The star, often regarded as the greatest footballer ever, declared himself the “number on fan of the Palestinian people,” and stated that “in my heart, I am Palestinian.”
Maradona consistently condemned the actions of the United States and Israel, and aligned himself with revolutionary causes across the world. In contrast, Messi has constantly shied away from political issues. But, as discussed here, he has made several decisions – embracing Netanyahu, visiting Jerusalem, becoming the face of an Israeli tech firm staffed by spies, and surrounding himself with Israeli spooks as bodyguards – that should lead many to question this supposed neutrality.
Argentina play England today for a place in the World Cup Final. While the result remains to be seen, it is no mystery that Israel and Netanyahu will be cheering for Argentina – and for Leo Messi.
Alan MacLeod
Alan MacLeod is a member of the Glasgow University Media Group and a Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams.
