Israel is in UEFA primarily for geopolitical and safety reasons rather than geographic ones. Although Israel is geographically located in Asia, many of its neighboring Middle Eastern and Asian countries have historically refused to play against Israeli teams due to political conflicts and boycotts. This led to Israel being expelled from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1974 after pressure from Arab states. To ensure Israeli teams and the national team could still compete internationally, Israel sought membership in UEFA, the European football governing body. UEFA began allowing Israel to compete in its competitions in the early 1990s and officially admitted Israel as a full member in 1994. This move coincided with the geopolitical climate marked by the 1993 Oslo Accords peace process, which brought optimism for peace and made Europe's acceptance of Israel as part of its football community a political and diplomatic gesture supporting that peace effort. Practically, UEFA membership provides Israeli teams a stable and fair environment for competition where political boycotts by neighboring countries are less of an issue, enabling them to participate in European club competitions and World Cup qualifiers under UEFA's umbrella. Similar cases include countries like Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Cyprus, which also geographically lie partly or wholly outside Europe but belong to UEFA for various historical and political reasons. In summary, Israel plays in UEFA due to the geopolitical conflicts that prevent it from competing safely and fairly in its geographic region's football confederation, combined with Europe's willingness to integrate Israel within its football framework as part of broader diplomatic support during the 1990s peace efforts.