Liga Alef

Liga Alef's two regional districts connect clubs to promotion opportunities in Liga Leumit and relegation to Liga Bet.[1] The published 2026/27 format provided for one automatic promotion place in each district, an upper playoff for teams finishing second through fifth, and relegation for the teams finishing 17th and 18th.[1]

The competition has included former Premier League players, among them Salim Toama and Ahmad Saba, as well as clubs pursuing promotion from the lower divisions.[3][2] Its regional structure has also been adapted in exceptional circumstances, including a season following the COVID-19 shutdown in which each district was subdivided into smaller groups.[6]

During Israel's first decade, the senior football league was called League A and included Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Rehovot, and Hapoel Haifa; Maccabi Jaffa entered the upper league in 1955.[7] This historical use of the name refers to the senior competition of that period, rather than the third-tier position described in the 2026/27 schedule.[7][1] A newspaper item dated August 12, 1969, entitled “Liga A South” match schedule documents the use of a southern-division designation by that date.[8]

Maccabi Jaffa's history links this earlier league setting to the club's Bulgarian community in Jaffa and to political struggles between the major sports organizations.[7] The club played in the upper leagues for 51 consecutive years.[7]

In 2013, Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem won Liga Alef South and promotion to Liga Leumit by defeating Lod 9–1.[2] Lod's chairman had announced that the team would not travel, but players and managers made the journey to Jerusalem at the last minute despite reported unpaid salaries and a lack of training.[2] More than 6,000 spectators attended the match.[2]

Katamon eased off after learning that its promotion rival, Maccabi Jaffa, was struggling in its own match.[2] Jaffa eventually won 3–2, but that result was insufficient to prevent Katamon from taking the division championship.[2]

The 2026/27 season schedule specified 18 teams in each of Liga Alef's two districts and listed September 4, 2026, as the opening date for league play.[1] Under that published format, each district's winner would advance automatically to Liga Leumit, while the teams in second through fifth places would enter an upper playoff.[1] The two lowest positions, 17th and 18th, were designated for relegation to Liga Bet.[1]

An exceptional format following the COVID-19 shutdown divided each district into two nine-team groups.[6] The top two teams from each group advanced to a four-team upper playoff within their district, with points reset before that stage.[6] Each playoff team faced the others twice, producing six matches per team; the district playoff winners earned promotion to Liga Leumit.[6] The runners-up competed for an opportunity to face the 14th-place Liga Leumit club in a promotion playoff.[6]

The cancellation of Liga Alef North in 2025 required separate administrative decisions on promotion and relegation.[9] In May, the Football Association adopted recommendations allowing M.S. Kiryat Yam, which had led the table when play stopped, to seek promotion subject to conditions, including the absence of a ruling disqualifying its first place and the absence of match-fixing suspicions.[9] Teams placed 16th and 17th were to be relegated, the relegation playoffs were canceled, and the following season's Liga Alef divisions were to open with at least 28 teams in total.[9]

In July 2025, the Israel Football Association approved a restructuring intended to establish Liga Artzit as a nationwide third division with 18 teams beginning in 2027/28.[5] A further committee recommendation reported in June 2026, still subject to executive approval, envisaged Liga Alef becoming the fourth tier and a new national league containing 12 teams, with room for up to four additional reserve teams.[10] The later recommendation therefore differed from the previously approved 18-team model.[5][10] That recommendation assigned teams finishing second through sixth in each Liga Alef district to the new competition, while also providing second-place teams with a route toward a promotion playoff against the 14th-place Liga Leumit club.[10]

Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem was Israel's first football team owned entirely by its fans, giving its 2013 promotion a distinctive place in the league's club history.[2] The crowd of more than 6,000 at its decisive match against Lod was described as by far the largest attendance for a match in Israel's lower divisions at that time.[2]

Liga Alef has offered religious players an opportunity to play football without desecrating the Sabbath, while also featuring experienced players such as former Premier League competitors Salim Toama and Ahmad Saba.[3]

Hapoel Jordan Valley reached Liga Alef in 2014/15 and subsequently struggled near the bottom before emerging as an unexpected contender in the season covered by a later account.[6] The club's boxer dog mascot accompanied the team to every match before dying during that season.[6]

In February 2025, the Football Association suspended Liga Alef North amid allegations of systematic match-fixing.[4] An investigation conducted with a private firm had lasted more than six months and examined suspected match-fixing and dual contracts, particularly in Liga Alef North and Liga Bet North.[11] Its reported findings suggested involvement by more than half of Liga Alef North's teams and included allegations of organized-crime financing; these were investigative allegations, not findings of adjudicated guilt.[11]

An association prosecutor said that at least one or two matches each week had been compromised.[4] The suspension left promotion, relegation, and player contracts uncertain, with the usual promotion rule potentially inapplicable because 75 percent of the season's matches had not been completed.[4]

The vote to stop the division passed by a large majority with one abstention, and an attorney representing seven suspects challenged the decision on evidentiary and due-process grounds.[12] The reports did not establish that all allegations had been proven.[12]