Alona Ben Natan hoped to race for the FIM Bajas World Cup’s Women Trophy, but her campaign was disrupted when she missed the Qatar International Baja after having her visa rejected. For her safety, Dubai International Baja organizers advised her to race this weekend without her Israeli nationality listed, thereby making her a ‘neutral’ athlete.

Natan has been vocal about supporting her country during its war in Gaza. She lost friends in the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which occurred while she was in Portugal for the Baja Portalegre 500. Natan eventually skipped the Dubai Baja a month later since she felt she wasn’t in the proper emotional state to race.

The war has led to substantial repercussions for the Middle East and global affairs, with many scholars describing Israel’s actions in Palestine as a genocide. The fighting also extended into neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen as Israel combatted Hamas and its allies like Iran and Hezbollah. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was agreed to in October, though numerous violations have occurred anyway.

Rally raid has been affected by the crisis as well, with the 2023 Jordan Baja being canceled soon after. Attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Houthis (a Hamas ally) disrupted teams heading to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the Dakar Rally and Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2024. The ASO also currently forbids Dakar teams from sporting national flags on their vehicles for safety reasons.

Due to Israel’s conduct, there have been plenty of calls for their athletes to be barred from international competition similar to Russian and Belarusian athletes following the invasion of Ukraine. Natan stressed to The Media Line that she “come(s) to every race as an athlete, very neutral,” but still faces hostility online and from other competitors for her nationality. She recalled a moment where she helped a rider from Kuwait but was sent a “long anti-Israel message” afterward, which she called “very upsetting.”

The Qatar International Baja, held three weeks before Dubai, was supposed to be Natan’s fourth start of the 2025 World Cup until her visa was denied. She spoke with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Consulate General in Dubai while an FIM lawyer wrote a letter pleading for her entry, to no avail. Israel and Qatar currently do not have bilateral relations, and the IDF launched an airstrike in Doha in September that killed six with the goal of taking out Hamas’ leaders there.

Conversely, the United Arab Emirates has a normalization agreement with Israel and accepted her entry into the country. Still, Dubai Baja officials requested for her to be a neutral rider.

“The main organizer called me and asked if it was fine that during the race they don’t put my nationality, just regarding security,” Natan told The Media Line.

Such a stipulation is mandated in the FIA for Russian and Belarusian drivers, who are required to either have a license of another nation or to not have their nationality designated. Sergei Remennik and Alexey Shmotev, who are racing Dubai as part of the FIA World Baja Cup, are both doing so under Emirati licenses. Sergei Kariakin, Maksim Deikin, Rais Minnikhanov, and Kosntantin Shilov still use the Russian flag since they’re competing in the non-FIA National Auto division.

As a result, Natan is the only rider without a nationality on the FIM entry list for Dubai. While understanding, she noted she is “proud of being Israeli and I’m proud that I’m Jewish. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around.”

Natan is sixth in the Women Trophy with 45 points. She won the subclass as part of an eighth-place run at the Baja TT Escuderia Castelo Branco, then was second in the WT and tenth at the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura. Her last start in the World Cup was fourth in WT and 28th overall at the Baja Aragón.