GRAEME SOUNESS: Israel is a country I have always loved visiting. These atrocities are a stain on humanity

I have grieved this week for the babies and children, both Israeli and Palestinian, caught up in the horrors that have engulfed the Middle East.

Israel is a country I have visited at least a dozen times and whose people have always given me incredible warmth when I arrived as a foreigner who did not share their faith. It is no exaggeration to say that a trip I took to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem for my stepfather Daniel’s Bar Mitzvah a few years ago was one of the most interesting and enjoyable experiences of my life.

Nor will I ever forget my first visit, with Liverpool in 1978. I took Shabbat on a Friday night at the home of lawyer and politician Ruvi Rivlin, his wife, son and daughter, in Tel Aviv. Ruvi, who later became president of Israel, ended up giving me a tour of Jerusalem, which became a personal lesson for me in the history of the Holy Land. I was too young to appreciate it. I wish we could do it all over again right now.

I thought of Ruvin last weekend as well as the family of my old Liverpool teammate Avi Cohen, a wonderfully talented player we signed in 1979. I know so many people I met there will suffer now.

Atrocities are a stain on humanity. Random killing by agents of a terrorist organization, who – make no mistake – should be called “terrorists”, although some media outlets, for reasons beyond my control, choose not to. We’re not talking about flag-waving demonstrators. Victims include babies and children, for goodness sake. There is no greater abomination.

It shames me too, as a proud Briton, to see that British Jewish parents now feel it is unsafe to send their children to school. And that British Jewish pupils are taught what to do if a gunman shows up at their school. Let’s pray that nightmare scenario never plays out in a classroom within these shores. But how dare anyone subject children and parents to such fear?

My association with Israel began at a time when Avi was being proposed as a possible signing for Liverpool. We started going there to play exhibition games and relax. We discovered that Israel wasn’t worried about a bunch of professional soccer players who were over-exuberant and drank a little too much Maccabee beer. Good times, a million miles away from the devastation we’re seeing now.

Israel was very proud of Avi. I’ll never forget the day he first appeared at Melwood, in 1979, when we were doing a full-sized game on what they called ‘A Field’. You could see right away that he had quality, although perhaps not quite the aggression needed in English football. He was a centre-back capable of playing in central midfield and left-back and I later signed him for Rangers. A class, who died very young in a motorcycle accident, 13 years ago.

My connection to the country makes me feel very strongly that we must try to find a formula that allows Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side, for the sake of all, moving forward. I wasn’t too worried about the FA’s decision not to light the Wembley Arch in the colors of the Israeli flag for Friday night’s game with Australia. But we must stand behind a nation whose people have contributed immensely to the British way of life.

The challenge, of course, is how to end this tragedy. And to do so quickly, with so many lives lost. It’s a tragedy on both sides. Both sides in this conflict will have to bend and surrender to some extent. There will have to be concessions in the pursuit of what has been unattainable – a path to peace for the people of the Middle East.

It is a colossal challenge for those charged with brokering such peace. Meanwhile, all the rest of us can do this weekend is pray for the innocent on both sides — and hope there might be a resolution to a disaster unfolding before our eyes.

Rooney is at the Last Chance Lounge in Birmingham

Wayne Rooney has not been given the Birmingham job on the strength of what he has achieved in his coaching career so far.

He was a really great player and there is still time for him to become a great manager. But he is now in charge of St Andrew’s because he has 63 million followers across all social media platforms. This is the football world we live in, with the power of social media. It was also what appealed to Birmingham’s new American owners, who have made a commercial decision, rather than a footballing one – just when the club looked set to get their act together for the first time in years. . Wayne’s predecessor John Eustace paid the price for the new way of running football clubs.

Wayne will be aware of the risks associated with this work. I see this as a final salon moment for him in management, given that he has a 27.5 per cent win rate which includes his time in charge of Derby County and DC United.

His 13 years working under Fergie at Manchester United will have taught him a great deal. I disagree with the view that he will have to bring great tactical nerve. I know what Fergie’s take on that was. He didn’t like to complicate things – and he didn’t do that badly. Wayne was exposed to a management belief that was about assembling a super group of footballers who were aggressive and worked their socks off as a collective. Put all these ingredients together and you’ll rarely get beat. I discovered the same under Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan and Ronnie Moran at Liverpool.

Wayne obviously knows what it takes to be successful and win games, but he has yet to transfer that to the players he has worked with.

Making the transition from player to coach can be difficult. You can accept that people have different degrees of ability than you. But it’s harder to accept that they don’t have the attitude that “this is the most important thing in my life for the next 90 minutes.” Wayne was a fighter. Not every player he manages will be.

He obviously wants to be a successful manager, because he left for America, sacrificing to see his children every day of the year, which is what any young father would want.

Promotion to the Premier League is certainly not out of the question for Birmingham this season, but there is a lot of luck involved in management. Right time, right place. I wish him well.

The Mystery of Hazard

It is a mystery to football people why Eden Hazard was not successful at Real Madrid.

I know injuries played a part, but even his dad said football wasn’t something he went to bed and woke up thinking about.

There has always been a view within football that Hazard did not live and breathe football and I think that is significant.

The real greats in football are obsessed with the game.

Scotland has every right to be proud of itself

It was a shame Scotland couldn’t qualify for the Euros in Spain this week, but I’m not worried.

There is no shame in being beaten 2-0 by Spain in front of a hugely passionate crowd in Seville.

Qualification is in Scotland’s hands. This is where they want to be. Onward and upward.