Deputy Minister of Transportation Tzipi Hotovely turned to Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat with the demand that respect for all national symbols be shown in every sports stadium in Israel, including Sakhnin.
"B'nei Sakhnin's refusal the Israeli flag to be displayed at their soccer games indicates yet another rift with Israeli Arabs, who see the displaying of an Israeli flag as a political act and cannot live under it, and they are unworthy of having Israeli citizenship," Hotovely said.