Why is Israel - a country in the Middle East- in European competitions and sports leagues? This seems to conflict with assertions that it in no way has anything to do with European or 'Western' settler/colonialism.

This is just further pandering trying to convince Americans that Israel is 'just like them' when in reality, the two countries are wildly different at a fundamental level. The only thing they share is a power-hungry murderous ruling class bent on capitalistic dominance, control, occupation, and 20+ year long wars of failed so-called 'liberation' and 'regime change'.

The real useful idiots are the Americans who've gone along with all this and allowed the Israel lobby to commandeer their country, buy off all their politicians, and dupe the US into fighting their wars and bankrolling the entire enterprise with US taxpayer money. Money that could be used to fix their own declining country and provide healthcare and housing to their own citizens rather than annihilation of impoverished people and refugees on the other side of the world at the behest of a foreign power.