Football Derbies in Israel

A derby is a match between local rivals, exemplified by the crosstown fixture between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv.[4] Israeli derbies are commonly organized around competition for status within a city, but each rivalry has developed its own sporting record and social associations.

The Tel Aviv rivalry dates to 1928, while the first recorded Haifa derby was played in the 1947/48 season.[1][5] In Jerusalem, Hapoel's football presence in the city during the 1920s made it a natural competitor of Beitar after the latter club's establishment.[2]

Israeli football took shape during the British Mandate period (1917–1948), when British, Arab, and Jewish communities fielded their own clubs and competed in tournaments.[6] The Eretz Israel Football Association was founded in 1928 at Egypt's suggestion, and inclusion of all population groups was made a condition of its acceptance into FIFA.[6] Football consequently provided both opportunities for encounters among communities and, increasingly, an arena for political struggles.

Political and social organizations also shaped Jewish club identities. Hapoel was the sporting union of the Histadrut, a left-wing workers' federation, while Beitar was associated with the right-wing Revisionist Zionist movement.[2] Scholarship catalogued by the National Library of Israel also identifies a political divide between Maccabi and Hapoel in Eretz Israel from 1926 to 1935, although the catalog record does not establish the article's detailed conclusions.[7]

Academic work describes Israeli football's broader history as a transformation from a politically organized game into a commodity, while noting that clubs continued to respond to both political and market rules.[3] A later study traces additional changes in fandom, including greater involvement in club management and movement away from party affiliation toward nationalism and support for foreign clubs.[8]

Israeli derbies are contested in several settings rather than through a separate derby competition. Meetings can occur in the national league, the State Cup, or the Toto Cup, as illustrated by the cup histories of the Haifa clubs and the 2021 return of the Jerusalem fixture.[9][10]

The rivalries are measured through head-to-head results, unbeaten runs, record margins, and claims to urban supremacy. These sporting records often outlast particular generations of players and allow a derby to regain attention after years without a top-flight meeting, as occurred in Jerusalem after Hapoel returned to the Premier League.

Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv share Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa.[11] Their first derby was played on February 25, 1928, when Maccabi won 3–0.[1] Maccabi Tel Aviv was founded in 1906 and is described as Israel's oldest football team.[11]

The first Tel Aviv derby after the establishment of Israel was played on October 29, 1949, and again ended in a 3–0 Maccabi victory.[12] Across the following decades, the balance of power shifted repeatedly: Maccabi dominated in the 1950s, the 1960s were relatively even, Maccabi returned to prominence in the 1970s, and Hapoel held the upper hand through much of the 1980s.[13] Maccabi's largest derby win stands at 5–0, achieved on January 24, 1970, while Hapoel's best winning margin of 3–0 has been recorded on five occasions.[12] Hapoel also assembled a record unbeaten run of 11 derbies between December 1978 and October 1984, comprising five wins and six draws.[12]

Individual matches have produced memorable moments. In one meeting, Eran Zahavi became only the third player to score a hat trick in the fixture—and the first since Eli Driks in the 1992/93 season—netting all three goals in a 3–2 Maccabi victory. His goals included an 89th-minute penalty and the winner with the final kick after Hapoel had taken a 2–1 lead.[14]

In January 2026, Hapoel's 2–1 win ended a 4,293-day derby drought.[15] During the 30 meetings since Hapoel's previous victory on April 26, 2014, Maccabi had won 25 times and five matches had ended in draws, with a 56–10 goal tally in Maccabi's favor.[15] Hapoel equalized in the 91st minute before Chico scored the winner.[15]

The Tel Aviv derby has been marked by serious incidents involving players and spectators. On November 3, 2014, the fixture was abandoned after a Hapoel supporter entered the pitch in the 33rd minute and attacked Maccabi player Eran Zahavi.[16] Zahavi pushed the attacker away and received a red card. After a pause of about ten minutes, play briefly resumed, but further pitch invasions prompted the referee to stop the match. Ten people had been detained by the time of Ynet's report, and police arranged 24-hour protection for Zahavi and his family.[16]

The Israel Football Association treated the match as a 0–0 draw but awarded no points to either club, deducted two league points from each side, and ordered stadium bleachers closed.[4] In a separate Tel Aviv league derby, dozens of people were injured after fans threw flares and smoke grenades; police said that match was abandoned because of concerns for public safety.[17]

The Haifa derby between Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Haifa dates to the 1947/48 season, with Hapoel winning the inaugural meeting 5–1.[5] Hapoel was the more dominant side in the 1950s, but Maccabi gradually established itself as the city's leading club.[18]

A January 2026 report gave Maccabi a 56–34 lead in league derbies, with 33 draws.[18] Across competitions, including cup matches, it listed an 82–45 advantage for Maccabi, 43 draws, and a 264–192 goal margin.[18] Published totals are not uniform: a 2023 account counted 113 meetings, with 52 Maccabi wins, 29 Hapoel wins, and 32 draws, indicating that the reports used different scopes or inclusion rules.[5]

Among the memorable cup encounters was a State Cup semi-final at Bloomfield Stadium watched by 17,000 spectators. Hapoel won 1–0 through Yehoshua "Shaya" Pelagi's goal, while Maccabi's Dani Rom struck the crossbar with a late penalty; the precise season and minute are reported differently by the available accounts.[19][9] After 17 years without a cup meeting, the clubs met in the 1994/95 State Cup final at Ramat Gan Stadium. Maccabi won 2–0 through goals by Ofer Shitrit and Moshe Glam in what was described as the tenth Haifa derby in cup competition.[9]

Hapoel's 7–1 win remains the highest-scoring result in the derby's history, while Maccabi's largest victory was a 6–1 result in 1993/94.[5] Recent results have also swung sharply. Hapoel beat Maccabi 5–1 in May 2025, one of the most lopsided results in the series, before Maccabi won 2–0 at Sammy Ofer Stadium in January 2026 after Hapoel were reduced to ten men in the 30th minute.[18]

Hapoel Jerusalem and Beitar Jerusalem form the capital's principal football rivalry. The first Hapoel football team appeared in Jerusalem during the 1920s and became a "natural competitor" of Beitar, a rivalry described as continuing into the present.[2] Beitar Jerusalem was founded in 1936 and did not achieve sustained national success until the late 1970s, when, under Uri Malmilian's leadership, it began winning State Cups.[2] Businessman Arkady Gaydamak bought the club in 2005, recruited expensive players from Israel and abroad, and saw Beitar win the Ligat Ha'al championship 21 months later—its first title in nine years.[2]

A 2021 account associated Hapoel with the Histadrut and the political left and Beitar with the rightist Likud.[20] It reported that Hapoel dominated Jerusalem football for decades before peaking in 1973 with a third-place league finish and a cup win. As the political right rose in the late 1970s, Beitar replaced Hapoel as the city's dominant club.[20] These are attributed descriptions of club identities rather than fixed or exhaustive definitions of their supporters.

Hapoel Jerusalem's institutional history was turbulent. The club descended to lower divisions, while supporters established Hapoel Katamon as a separate fan-owned team. The two clubs played several emotionally charged matches before Hapoel Jerusalem declared bankruptcy and Katamon legally acquired the Hapoel Jerusalem name with sponsor assistance in 2020; Katamon's membership endorsed the change.[20] On April 30, 2021, the renamed club secured promotion to the Premier League with a 2–0 win over Ness Ziona at Teddy Stadium before a crowd of 6,000.[20]

The top-flight derby had been absent for more than two decades. The clubs' previous meeting in the highest division was during the 1999/2000 season and ended 1–1, after which Hapoel was relegated and did not return until 2021/22.[10] The first fixture following its return was a Toto Cup match at Teddy Stadium, for which more than 5,000 supporters had secured places in advance.[10] Former players described the derby as especially significant to Jerusalem and its supporters while distinguishing the players' sporting competition from the fixture's political associations.[21]

Racist conduct has been documented at Israeli football stadiums. Research records chants of "death to Arabs" directed at Arab teams or Arab players on Jewish clubs, as well as expressions of hostility toward Jewish players on Arab teams.[22] The Knesset passed the Prohibition of Violence in Sports Law on July 30, 2008, making racist statements at football stadiums punishable by up to two years in prison.[22]

In 2013, the Israel Police and the Israel Football Association jointly declared an "all-out war" against racism at stadiums.[22] Indictments for racist conduct were brought against fans associated with several clubs, including Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Umm al-Fahm. Late Justice Edmund Levy observed that "it is regretful that real steps to prevent this unacceptable practice have not yet been taken at a level that would enable its elimination."[22]

Academic research identifies ethnicity and nationality, in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as important triggers of violent conduct in Israeli football. It also traces a change from earlier episodes in which players were often the instigators toward later incidents centered more heavily on crowd behavior.[23]

Israeli derbies endure because they combine recurring sporting competition with collective memories of political organization, urban status, and changing club fortunes. The 2021 return of the Jerusalem derby was framed as a renewed contest for dominance in the capital, even after the clubs and their supporters had changed considerably.[10][21]

Political inheritance does not operate identically in every rivalry. One account of the Tel Aviv derby argues that its early ideological roots ceased to be its defining basis, while Jerusalem coverage continues to emphasize political associations.[13][10] The broader commercialization of Israeli football likewise changed club structures without eliminating the symbolic importance of local rivalry.[3]

Several historical details remain unresolved. A 2021 Jerusalem Post article dates the founding of Hapoel Jerusalem to 1926, while a 2006 article gives 1939.[20][24] Accounts of a Haifa State Cup semi-final likewise conflict: one places the match in the 1964/65 season, while another identifies it as a 1966 fixture. Both describe a 1–0 Hapoel victory at Bloomfield through a Yehoshua Pelagi goal, suggesting a dating disagreement concerning the same match.[19][9]

Published Haifa head-to-head totals also differ substantially between a 2023 account and a January 2026 report, apparently reflecting different inclusion methods.[18][5] Political labels attached to the clubs require similar care: Tel Aviv reporting presents political difference as more important to the rivalry's early period, while Jerusalem reporting gives the clubs' political associations a more continuing role.[13][10]