ALGEMEINER
Adidas apologizes after anti-Israel agitators urge boycott over campaign featuring disabled IDF veteran
Shiryn Ghermezian
September 7, 2026

The German sportswear company Adidas apologized over the weekend for featuring in a campaign a former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who lost his left leg while protecting Israel near the Gaza border, after pro-Palestinian activists called for a boycott of the brand. Shalev Biton partnered with Adidas to promote the brand’s in-store “single shoe” service campaign, which allows shoppers with leg limb differences to buy only one running shoe, instead of paying for a pair, at 50 percent off the full-pair price. Biton lost his left leg in May 2021 in Israel while serving in the IDF’s Nahal Brigade during Operation Guardian of the Walls. He was injured when an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza hit his military vehicle located on the Israeli side of the border, and now wears a prosthetic limb. Fellow IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Omer Tabib was killed in the attack. READ MORE