Israel Dappa

Israel Dappa was born in January 2009 in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv to Ghanaian parents.[1] His older brother Daniel also pursued a career in Israeli football.[1]

In December 2024, both brothers received Israeli identity cards.[1] Despite interest from Ghana, they chose to represent Israel at the international level rather than their parents' country of origin.[1]

Dappa progressed through the youth ranks of Hapoel Jerusalem, demonstrating a prolific scoring record from an early age. During the season preceding 2024–25, while playing concurrently for the club's under-16 and under-17 teams, he scored 18 goals across all competitions.[1] His output accelerated sharply in the 2024–25 season, when he registered 33 league goals and two further goals in the State Cup for the under-17 side.[1] Approximately three and a half months before July 26, 2025, he signed a further three-year contract with the club and later took part in the senior team's training camp.[1]

On July 26, 2025, Dappa made his senior debut for Hapoel Jerusalem against Hapoel Petah Tikva in the Toto Cup.[2] He was 16 years old at the time — five days short of the minimum age of 16½ required for registration in a senior match — and needed special authorization to play.[2] Starting the match, he scored in the 44th minute with a close-range header and played until the 65th minute, with Hapoel Jerusalem winning 1–0.[2] His brother Daniel watched the occasion from the stands.[2]

Dappa continued to feature in senior competition the following year. In the Toto Cup group stage in August 2026, he entered as a 46th-minute substitute against Hapoel Petah Tikva and scored twice: a header in the 76th minute and a second goal in the 88th minute, contributing to a 3–1 Hapoel Jerusalem victory alongside an own goal by Yazan Nassar.[3] Across five Toto Cup matches in the summer of 2026, he scored four goals in total.[4]

CIES data reported in September 2026 identified the 17-year-old Dappa as Hapoel Jerusalem's youngest senior-squad player.[5] From the beginning of 2026, the club led Israel in the share of minutes given to under-21 players, at 19.9 percent; the number of under-21 players used, at seven; and the youngest average squad age, at 24.48.[5] It ranked 66th among clubs from 50 top divisions worldwide on the report's youth-development measure.[5] That same month, Dappa scored in the sixth round of the youth Premier League, receiving the ball from the left wing and rolling it into the goal as Hapoel Jerusalem recovered from a 0–2 deficit to draw 2–2 with Maccabi Haifa.[6]

By July 2025, Dappa had already played for Israel's under-17 national team.[1] In September, he was included in Israel's youth national-team squad for two friendly matches in Estonia on September 4 and 7, 2025.[7] Coach Ofir Haim named Dappa among the midfield and attacking players as a representative of Hapoel Jerusalem.[7]

An August 2026 assessment described Dappa as possessing an unusually developed physical build for his age.[4] His strengths were identified as holding the ball with his back to goal, distributing toward the wings, moving effectively without the ball, and finding good positions.[4] The assessment highlighted his performance against Maccabi Haifa, where he repeatedly held his own physically against experienced defenders while protecting the ball and redirecting play toward the wings.[4]

The same assessment positioned him as a potential breakout player for the 2026–27 Premier League season, suggesting that coach Lior Zada's willingness to trust him — rather than defaulting to the more experienced striker Vitali Damascan — could determine whether Dappa emerged as one of the season's standout discoveries.[4] He was compared favorably with earlier Hapoel Jerusalem players who moved on, such as Cedric Don and John Otuoma, framing him as a potential future transfer for the club.[4]

A September 2026 ranking based on Transfermarkt estimates placed Dappa third among players experiencing the largest increase in estimated market value, recording his increase as more than €1 million.[8]

On August 13, 2026, Maccabi Tel Aviv was reported to have submitted a formal offer estimated at approximately €2 million for Dappa's transfer.[9] The club reportedly viewed him as a potential replacement for striker Said Abu Farkhi following the latter's transfer to the Colorado Rapids.[9] At the time, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem had reportedly been negotiating for several days, while Dappa had two years remaining on his Hapoel Jerusalem contract.[9]

The reported bid and the separately recorded increase of more than €1 million in Dappa's estimated market value are media and market estimates rather than confirmed transfer fees.[9][8]