Ilay Feingold earned his first international call-up since 2024, and he is hoping that he won't have a similar gap in appearances moving forward.
Feingold noted prior to the window that there was a misunderstanding with Israel after he declined a U-21 call-up during his first season with the New England Revolution. This led to a punishment and him being away from the team for so long.
"We fixed everything, but I think they just didn't call me because, like, professional decisions," Feingold said prior to heading on international duty. "I respect that. Now it's my time to prove."
The outside back appeared in three matches, which included a start against Ireland, where Feingold played 78 minutes. Israel largely struggled as it failed to secure a win and is at the bottom of its UEFA Nations League group.
"We didn't do good results over there, but obviously it's always nice to be with the boys over there," Feingold said of the window. "I'm really happy that I could get some minutes, and now we have to stay focused on our targets."
The fact that Feingold was able to earn a start after such a long absence with the national team is a reason for him to feel good. He hopes that he earned the trust of the coaching staff moving forward.
"Hopefully, I proved to the coaching staff over there that they can trust me," Feingold said. "I did my best with the minutes I got. I think I had enough time to show myself. We played a defensive game, I would say."
In his lone start against Ireland, Feingold had eight defensive contributions along with five clearances, three recoveries, and two interceptions.
The matches against Ireland were dominated by the tension between the two sides. There was pressure from former Irish National Team players and coaches to boycott the matches due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Former national team player James McClean and former manager Brian Kerr were prominent figures who called for the boycott.
Leading up to the matches, coaches and players faced numerous questions from Irish and Israeli journalists about playing the game. Ireland's manager Heimir HallgrĂmsson said that Ireland would be playing against genocide not with it when the squad for the window was announced. This prompted a response from the Israel Football Association, calling the manager a hypocrite and stupid.
Irish goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu ended up withdrawing himself from selection for the matches against Israel. The players who did appear in the match wore black armbands, bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem, and refused to shake the hands of Israeli players.
Troy Parrot opened the scoring and celebrated with a heart gesture. Jack Moylan scored the third and final goal of the evening and celebrated by kissing the black armband. In the 3-0 win for Ireland, it was alleged that Israeli supporters chanted IDF, in support of the Israel Defence Forces.
It was also alleged by the Irish federation that Irish forward Adam Idah faced racial discrimination from Israeli supporters. Ahead of the second match, Israeli journalists accused the Irish players of committing racial discrimination against the Israeli players in a pre-match press conference. FAI communications officer Kieran Crowley emphatically denied the claims and ended the press conference.
In the second match, it was alleged that Ireland's fitness coach was spat on by an Israeli player. Israel has denied the claims, while Ireland has also called for the two nations to be separated in future draws.
"It's never a good experience, I would say, but I think we really got used to it as Israeli players around the world," Feingold said when asked by The Blazing Musket about the tension surrounding the Ireland games. "It's part of the game; it's their choice to behave how they behaved, and we were just focused on playing football, honestly."
After the 3-0 loss, Israel was able to manage a 1-1 draw in the second match against Ireland. Feingold said that the group played much more cohesively.
"We played as a one unit, and we tried to be more aggressive and to be better defensively," Feingold said.
