Robbie Keane’s wife says her family don’t feel safe living in Ireland any more after being sent ‘threatening and dangerous’ messages from pro-Palestinian activists over his decision to manage Israeli football team

Claudine Keane said her family’s safety and well-being have been put at risk after her husband Robbie, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Ireland footballer, became a ‘political pawn’ over his stewardship of an Israeli club.

Keane, who managed Maccabi Tel Aviv for a season before stepping down this summer, was criticized after refusing to give up his job following the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The former Republic of Ireland captain’s status as the country’s record goalscorer has done nothing to protect him from “hurtful, threatening and dangerous” messages, said his wife, who claimed the “outrageous allegations” against Keane “incited hatred ‘.

“I would like to remind a certain small group of people, my family, my children and I, in Ireland that this is our home,” Claudine Keane wrote on social media.

‘I feel extremely uncomfortable and sometimes intimidated by some messages from a small group that are hurtful, threatening and dangerous.

“Not only are they really putting our safety and well-being as a family at risk, they are also using an athlete as a political pawn and inciting hatred by making absolutely outrageous accusations.

Keane has become the target of insulting comments this week after handing the Republic of Ireland stars their caps – on the back of Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv last season

Claudine says she feels ‘intimidated’ by people who ‘incite hatred’ against her husband

‘Until now I have always felt safe in Ireland. I have always wanted to move, bring my children here and enjoy the Ireland that both me and my husband love.

‘They deprive me and my family of every bit of fun and safety. We love our country, we are not politicians, we have never done anything wrong.”

The Keanes have been together since 2002, when 18-year-old Claudine was an aspiring model and Robbie established himself as a rising star after successful spells at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Coventry and Leeds United.

They met at Lillie’s Bordello, a nightclub in Dublin – Keane was a bit shy, Claudine later recalled – and hit it off straight away.

“Robbie came to talk to me and I really liked him because he was a bit shy,” Claudine, who grew up in the coastal town of Malahide, about a 45-minute drive from the capital, later recalled.

‘He asked for my number. Normally I wouldn’t give out my number, but I thought it was real, so I did.’

It was a life-changing decision: the couple married in 2008 and have since had two boys, nine-year-old Hudson and Robert, 15.

In 2018, following Robbie’s five-year stint with LA Galaxy, the Keanes returned to Ireland with the express intention of raising their children there.

Claudine Keane watches from the stands during Ireland’s 3-1 defeat by Croatia at Poland’s Municipal Stadium, during their group opener at Euro 2012

Claudine and Robbie Keane arrive at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin ahead of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Wales in March 2017

Robbie Keane’s wife Claudine is seen with the couple’s son Hudson, now nine, at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in August 2016

“I live here, the kids go to school here,” Robbie said. “When I left LA, we bought a house because I wanted the kids to go to school here. That tells the story.’

However, that fairy tale story has recently taken on a darker tone, with Keane being targeted by online trolls after presenting caps to members of the Ireland squad at the team hotel ahead of Thursday night’s Nations League encounter with Finland.

Several politicians have also targeted Keane, with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald among those who have suggested he was wrong not to step down from his role at Maccabi Tel Aviv after the outbreak of war.

“I have a real problem with sport when it falls under the authority of an apartheid regime and genocide is committed,” I told the Irish Examiner last December.

McDonald’s criticism came after Irish MP Chris Andrews lashed out at Keane over his decision to take power in Tel Aviv last June.

“Very, very disappointing that Irish football icon Robbie Keane would join the racist and apartheid Israeli club @MaccabitlvBC,” Andrews wrote on social media. “Keane is in a position to settle down [an] example and Boycott Apartheid, but chose not to do so.’

Andrews doubled down on his criticism following Keane’s role in the Irish team’s annual cap presentation, calling the Irish Football Association’s decision to involve the former player ‘very disappointing’.

Claudine sees such comments as part of a wider and long-term persecution campaign against her husband.

“Please stop this absolute witch hunt and remember that politicians should not tell you where you can and cannot work,” she wrote. ‘Is Britain, America [and] Saudi Arabia okay? We all want peace.

“You can’t hide the absolute prejudice, malice and slander over the years; it is nothing short of a shame. Sorry, this is so long-winded. This is what years of what feels like a bully[ing] campaign and witch hunt feels like it almost breaks you.

‘To the logical people, thank you, and to the others: you bully [the] wrong person/family. Enough is enough.

“I would also say my children were in the Irish hotel during the cap presentation, they are Irish citizens and play schoolboy and League of Ireland football.

‘Are they also not welcome because of a manager’s job from which their father resigned? It’s all completely hypocritical, to say the least.’

Despite the challenging circumstances surrounding his tenure, Keane led a successful spell at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium, leading the club to its first league title in 2020 and also winning Israel’s equivalent of the League Cup.

He also guided them to the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, the best finish in the continental competition in the club’s history.

He had to flee Israel after the October 7 massacre and evacuated Israel via Greece. Tel-Aviv was among the cities hit by rocket attacks that month as part of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

Keane and his staff worked remotely while the Israeli league was suspended before returning in early December.

Keane has received a lot of insults on social media this week – in the wake of Maccabi fans tearing down Palestinian flags and being attacked en masse in Amsterdam

Keane won the Israeli Premier League title and the Toto Cup with Maccabi before leaving in June

Last week, Maccabi fans tore down Palestinian flags and chanted anti-Arab slogans during a visit to Amsterdam for a Europa League match against Ajax.

After a 5-0 win for Ajax, hundreds of Maccabi supporters were ambushed and attacked in the streets. Footage emerged of youths wearing dark clothing and masks chasing and beating victims – mostly in Maccabi colors – until about 4am.

The violence, condemned by Dutch and Israeli officials as anti-Semitic, led to at least 67 arrests and Israel sent six rescue planes to evacuate fans..