Karim Benzema: Where They Stand on Israel

This page records specific public conduct. It does not claim knowledge of private beliefs or motives.

Documented record

• October 15, 2023: On Sunday, October 15, 2023 — eight days after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel — Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema (then playing for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia) posted a tweet offering prayers for Gaza's civilian "victims" of Israeli bombardment, without any reference to the October 7 attack, Israeli hostages, or Israeli civilian deaths. Toutes nos prières pour les habitants de Gaza victimes une fois de plus de ces bombardements injustes qui n'épargnent ni femmes ni enfants ("All our prayers for the people of Gaza, victims once again of these unjust bombings that spare neither women nor children.") Source 1 Source 2

Context and response

Benzema's lawyer, Hugues Vigier, publicly characterized the tweet as a general humanitarian prayer for civilians ("neither propaganda for Hamas, nor complicity in terrorism," but "natural compassion") rather than political or pro-Hamas messaging, and did not condone the Oct 7 attack. Separately, days later French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin alleged on CNews that Benzema had a "notorious link" to the Muslim Brotherhood over the tweet; Benzema's lawyer flatly denied this ("Ceci est faux!") and announced a defamation complaint against Darmanin — this dispute concerns Darmanin's unproven political accusation, not the underlying one-sided tweet itself.

Where Galil stands

Our opinion: We don't stand with public statements, even from a Ballon d'Or winner, that mourn only one side's suffering eight days after Oct 7 and cannot spare a word for the hostages.

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Sources manually reviewed 2026-07-27. Corrections and later context will be appended to this page.