The comments were made in response to Hallgrimsson's statement that the Republic of Ireland team is "not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide". The Israel FA accused Hallgrimsson of "ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity" over the remarks. According to BBC Football, Martin made the comments while attending the UN General Assembly in New York. He stated that the remarks were "unacceptable" and "should be withdrawn". The teams are set to meet twice in the Nations League, with Israel's 'home' game in Debrecen, Hungary on Sunday, and the return fixture in a neutral venue of Backa Topola, Serbia on 4 October.