Israeli men's basketball team in limbo as worried foreign players stay abroad

JERUSALEM :Its season delayed by war for two months, Israel's professional basketball league tips off on Monday but Hapoel Jerusalem was scrambling to field a team after its seven foreign players chose not to return because of the security situation.

The season began on Oct. 6 but was delayed when the next day Palestinian Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, triggering a war in the Gaza Strip. Security officials gave the OK to resume play in arenas with no more than 1,000 people - players, fans and media.

Hapoel's November "home" games in the European Basketball Champions League (BCL) were held behind closed doors in Belgrade, where rival Maccabi Tel Aviv plays its EuroLeague contests. Hapoel has posted a 3-1 record in BCL play and needs one more victory to move to the next stage.

With its Israeli season due to begin on Tuesday, all of Hapoel's players planned to fly back last week. But the mainly U.S. foreign players, led by University of Alabama alumnus Levi Randolph as well as its Serbian head coach Aleksandar Dzikic, opted to stay in Belgrade after a Hamas shooting attack in Jerusalem on Thursday in which four Israelis were killed.

"The players expressed their deep concern about the security situation in Israel and said that they do not feel safe playing in Israel as early as next week," the team said in a statement on Saturday.

As a result, Hapoel, which plays in the 13-team premier league, will be without its foreign players for both of its domestic games this week. Its next BCL games are on Dec. 13 and Dec. 20.

"It's not a good situation for the league, but we know that they did everything to get the players to come, but they are afraid and don't want to come," an Israeli basketball league spokesman said. "We have no doubt