This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
German sportswear company Adidas apologized Monday after an advertising campaign featuring a former Israeli soldier prompted a backlash and calls for a boycott, Anadolu reports.
The campaign featured Shalev Biton, whose left leg was amputated after he was wounded while serving in the Israeli army in 2021, to promote Adidas’s Single Shoe service.
“We recognize that an image used in a recent local activation by the local team has raised concerns and strong reactions,” Adidas said in a statement.
“It was never our intent to cause offense and we apologize for anyone affected,” the company added, describing the promotion as a local initiative rather than part of a global campaign.
Biton was one of 11 disabled athletes featured on posters displayed at Adidas stores in Israel.
Pro-Palestinian activists criticized the decision to include a former Israeli soldier in a campaign centered on amputees, contrasting the promotion with the thousands of Palestinians who have lost limbs during Israel’s war on the Gaza.
READ: Germany approves nearly $930M in arms exports to Israel amid Gaza genocide
World Health Organization estimates published in May said that Gaza had recorded more than 5,000 traumatic limb amputations and over 22,000 major extremity injuries since October 2023. Up to a quarter of those with life-changing injuries were children, according to the organization.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem was among those who urged consumers to boycott the company over the promotion.
Adidas said its Single Shoe service was intended to promote inclusion by allowing people with limb differences to only purchase the shoe they need.
The company introduced the service in 23 European countries in January, offering individual shoes for 50% of the price of a pair at Adidas-owned stores and outlets. It was developed in consultation with disability groups and organizations, including ParalympicsGB.
Adidas said the program was expanding across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, including Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt.
The company said it would “continue to listen, learn and work to ensure that our actions reflect the inclusive values we stand for.”
READ: Adidas faces boycott calls over Israeli veteran in single-shoe campaign
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- Evangelical Zionist Huckabee attacks Jewish Ed Miliband, accuses UK government of ‘Jew hate’
- Adidas apologizes after campaign featuring former Israeli soldier sparks boycott calls
- Board of Peace says Israel must implement Gaza commitments to move roadmap forward
- UN rapporteur warns Israeli rubble-clearing in Gaza could erase evidence of atrocity crimes
- UN rights chief urges halt to arms transfers to Israel, business support to illegal settlements
- Iran’s parliamentary speaker warns US energy assets in Gulf exposed to Iranian retaliation
- Volkswagen, Israeli firm agree on sale of Osnabrueck plant
- No arms export licenses issued to Israel for weeks in 2025, Germany claims at ICJ
- UK vows further measures amid ‘unacceptable’ expansion of illegal West Bank settlements
- Rapper Macklemore voices support for Palestine at Ed Sheeran concerts, faces removal petition
- Iran warns South Korea of ‘serious consequences’ over military role in Hormuz
- Gaza students shame the Irish authorities
- Israeli army played football in Palestinian home as settlers carried out ethnic cleansing, court hears
- Qatari official says Iran war showed US strategic alliance is not enough
- An awakening question: From Rousseau to Al-Husri
- Kushner downplays Gaza suffering, blaming Hamas disarmament, Israeli politics for stalled Gaza talks
- EU urges Tunisia to allow political pluralism
- Israel issues 800 al-Aqsa expulsion orders since start of 2026
- Israeli army throws stun grenade at worshippers inside West Bank mosque
- Lebanese parliament speaker accuses Israel of turning south into a “ballot box of blood”
- Ben-Gvir proposes ministry to promote ‘voluntary emigration’ from Gaza
- UN experts report more than 6,000 killed during RSF capture of El Fasher
- Iran airs footage purporting to show missile strikes on US warships
- 11 killed, including 2 infants, in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon
- Belgian migration minister opposes bringing 13 Palestinian students from Gaza
- Algae bloom disrupts Israeli desalination plants, raising water supply concerns
- Study: Nearly 1,400 doctors left Israel for extended periods between 2023 and 2025
- Israeli army chief warns of ‘tense, volatile period’ across all fronts
- Israeli occupier spits at entrance of Christian monastery in occupied East Jerusalem
- Lebanese president condemns renewed Israeli strikes on Nabatieh, urges international action
- Israel to hold large-scale military drill near Jordan border
- 2 years after Israeli forces killed Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, family still waits for justice
- Adidas faces boycott calls over Israeli veteran in single-shoe campaign
- Gaza holds funeral for 100 Palestinians recovered from rubble of destroyed homes
- Israel’s Game
- Cyprus’s energy paradox: Gas beneath the sea, isolation on the grid
- US envoy to Israel visits occupied West Bank, calls occupiers attacking Palestinians ‘terrorists’
- Saudi Embassy urges investigation after citizen stabbed in London’s Mayfair
- Tehran’s dangerous illusion of control
- Dreams about Gaza: Israel’s ethnic cleansing proposals
- Entry, clashes, fire: Israeli occupier violence in West Bank village shows familiar pattern
- Palestinian football returns after nearly 3-year pause due to Israel’s genocide
- US ‘administered’ polygraphs to military officers for Iran war leaks
- US missile hits Iranian oil tanker near Kharg Island: Report
- Government forces recapture ‘strategic’ positions from Houthis in western Yemen, army says
- The Syria option: Rethinking Middle Eastern oil exports beyond Hormuz
- 2 killed in Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire
- UN urges restraint in Yemen, warns of civilian risks in Gaza, West Bank
- Trump says US might hit Pickaxe Mountain in Iran ‘very soon’
- Qatar rejects Iran claim strikes only targeted US military sites
