New St Johnstone Israeli international defender David Keltjens has insisted he had no qualms about moving to Scotland.
And he revealed he got advice from two of his countrymen – former Saints striker Guy Melamed and forgotten Aberdeen on loan defender Or Dadia.
Craig Levein snapped up for the former Hapoel Tel Aviv stopper this week for the remainder of the campaign.
Several Israeli football figures have publicly lashed out at Celtic fans for their support of the Palestinian cause in the war in the Middle East, with Israeli international Liel Abada caught in the middle of it.
Those have included former Celtic star Nir Bitton, Israel boss Alon Hazan and several Israeli internationals, with Hoops manager Brendan Rodgers revealing last week he had a private chat with Abada about the situation.
But in a TV interview in his homeland, Keltjens insisted he had no worries about his reception after being directly asked about the ‘hatred’ for Israel in Scotland.
He pointed out: “I have not received any responses or comments about the situation.
“I also consulted with Or Dadia who played in Scotland during the war and said he did not feel any different treatment.
“It’s not something inclusive of the entire league in Scotland.
“I spoke to Guy Melamed who played here at St Johnstone. It went well for him in Scotland, he scored several goals here and he recommended it to me.
“I also had options in Israel for higher money, but here suits me both in terms of character and in terms of the style of the game.
“Scotland is part of the UK, the kingdom of football, there is an amazing atmosphere here and I decided to go check it out.
“This appealed to me.
“The players were on a break, but start training now. It’s a relatively small and friendly club with good people, a good training facility, not a big stadium but very homely.
“This is an opportunity for me that I should have taken earlier in my career.”
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