12. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers in history, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and captain of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup-winning team. A practicing Catholic, Messi has cultivated a measured public profile but has repeatedly engaged with Israel and Jewish communities in meaningful ways. In 2011, he participated in a public campaign seeking justice and remembrance for the victims of the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires. In 2013, he sent a personal message of support to Argentina’s Maccabiah Games delegation ahead of the “Jewish Olympics” in Israel, and later that year visited Jerusalem’s Western Wall with FC Barcelona, meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Messi has also partnered with Israeli innovation: he became a global brand ambassador for Tel Aviv-based Sirin Labs in 2017 and for Jerusalem-based OrCam Technologies in 2020. In 2019, he played for Argentina in a friendly match against Uruguay held in Tel Aviv. These connections, spanning humanitarian, cultural, sporting, and commercial spheres, illustrate a sustained and respectful relationship with Israel and the Jewish people.