Shem Tov was abducted from the Nova music festival during the October 7, 2023 Hamas led attack on southern Israel, in which roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 people were taken hostage into Gaza. He was released on February 22, 2025 as part of a ceasefire deal after more than 16 months in captivity.
The original moment drew widespread praise at the time, including from the pro-Israel account Kosher, which called the gesture beautiful and said it raised their respect for Haaland. The video has now resurfaced and recirculated on X, this time drawing a different reaction. Pro-Palestinian activists who came across the clip expressed disappointment and frustration with Haaland over the gesture, with some social media users speculating about who had arranged the call and questioning Haaland's motivations, while others continued to defend him.
Haaland himself has largely avoided direct political commentary on the war throughout the period. When asked last year about calls from some of his Norwegian teammates for Israel to be disqualified from European football competition, ahead of a 2026 World Cup qualifying match in which Norway defeated Israel 4-2 with Haaland scoring, he declined to take a position, saying he did not believe that, as a footballer, he should be the one speaking on the matter, and that there were others better positioned to decide where they stand.
Norway has been among the more vocal critics of Israel within European football circles throughout the war, making Haaland's personal outreach to Shem Tov notable at the time as a departure from his otherwise consistently apolitical public posture. Israel's national team captain Eli Dasa responded to criticism of Israel from within Norwegian football circles last year by noting that hostages remained in Gaza under what he described as horrific conditions, and questioning whether critics in Norway could even locate Gaza on a map.
