I guess this is really a matter of mentalities. Barthez wasted time just like Awat when France played in Israel (does France count as "North Western Europe"?)
We see players feigning injuries all the time here and we don't think that much of it (though that red card ordeal was really disgusting. That was way over the line for sure). On the other hand, if an Israeli player would intentionally tackle a guy hard enough to end his career, he'd be stained for life rather than a national idol - so, different value systems?