Liga Artzit

Liga Artzit, translated as the “Nationwide League,” occupied the third tier below Ligat Ha’al and Liga Leumit in a league structure comprising 12 teams in each division.[7] That structure provided for the two lowest-placed teams in each league to be relegated and the two highest-placed teams to move up.[7] This description is not tied to a specific season and should not be read as the format of the separately approved 2027/28 competition.[7][2]

The name has been used at different levels of the football system: for the organized league established in 1931, for a later second division, and for the third division identified in reporting from 2008.[5][6] In July 2025, the Israel Football Association approved a new nationwide third division bearing the same name, scheduled to begin in 2027/28.[2]

Following FIFA approval in August 1931, nine teams began the first organized football league in Mandatory Palestine that November under the name Liga Artzit, or National League.[5] Eight were Hebrew teams, and the ninth was British Police Jerusalem.[5] The opening match, played on November 7, 1931, drew more than 5,000 spectators as Hashmonai Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Jerusalem 8–0, with Akiva Tzuvner scoring a hat-trick.[8]

British Police Jerusalem finished first in the 1931–32 table with 27 points, ahead of Hapoel Tel Aviv with 24.[5] The police team played at Maccabi Hashmonai Jerusalem’s ground and at the Sarafand military camp, now Tzrifin, following a temporary ban on Saturday football in Jerusalem.[5] On March 26, 1932, its match against Hapoel Haifa was moved to Sarafand because of that restriction; 10,000 spectators attended the British team’s 2–0 victory.[8] British Police Jerusalem won the championship unbeaten.[8]

After the establishment of Israel, the second division was initially called Liga Bet and later became Liga Artzit.[6] It split into Liga Alef North and South in 1963/64 and was reunited as a single Liga Artzit in 1976/77.[6] The second division took the name Liga Leumit in 1999/2000; by 2008, Liga Artzit was the third division.[6][9]

By the 2009/10 season, the National League had expanded to 16 teams. Seven Liga Artzit clubs and two Liga Alef clubs entered the enlarged second tier.[4] A May 2009 report recorded that all seven Liga Artzit promotion places had been settled: Hapoel Natzrat Illit claimed the seventh with a 2–0 victory over Ironi Tirat Carmel, while Hapoel Marmorek had already secured promotion.[10]

Hapoel Jerusalem secured promotion to the National League in April 2008 with a 3–2 victory over Hapoel Kfar Shalem, sealed by Shai Aharon’s stoppage-time goal.[11] Hapoel Katamon, formed by breakaway supporters after Hapoel Jerusalem’s relegation the previous year, was then playing in the fourth division, Liga Alef, and had missed its opportunity to finish first and gain promotion to Liga Artzit.[11]

Liga Artzit clubs also competed against higher-division opponents in the State Cup.[3] In the ninth round in February 2008, Betar/Shimshon Tel Aviv defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–0 through substitute Adam Mizrahi’s 120th-minute goal from an Oran Rotem pass.[3] Betar/Shimshon had been formed from Betar Tel Aviv and Shimshon Tel Aviv.[3]

Reporting from 2008 also identified Hapoel Ashkelon as the division leader and Ness Ziona as second, with the teams scheduled to meet the following Saturday.[1] Rocket fire disrupted the Ashkelon players’ routines; player Kfir Leibowitz said, “As soon as training is over everyone runs to their phones to call home and speak to their families. I hope we can get through this period.”[1]

The nationwide Liga Artzit approved in July 2025 was planned as an 18-team third division beginning in 2027/28.[2] Under that plan, up to six clubs could be Premier League “B teams,” composed primarily of players under 23.[2] Those teams would be ineligible for the State Cup and would not receive direct league funding.[2]

The 2008 restructuring placed Liga Artzit within a wider effort to attract spectators and make domestic football more engaging.[9] IFA chairman Avi Luzon expressed the aim directly: “We want the league to be interesting and for the stadiums to be full.”[9] Maccabi Haifa chairman Ya’akov Shachar opposed the wider expansion, arguing that a 12-team league was preferable and should not be changed because of a couple of poor seasons.[9]

The 2025 plan assigned a different role to the proposed new division by allowing a limited number of Premier League B teams whose squads would consist primarily of under-23 players.[2] Its rules distinguished those teams from other participants through restrictions on State Cup participation and direct league funding.[2]

Accounts differ on when the inaugural 1931–32 season ended: one says the league matches concluded in April 1932, while another dates the season’s completion to May 27, 1932.[5][8] The latter account states that British Police Jerusalem won the championship unbeaten.[8] The discrepancy concerns the season’s endpoint rather than the identity of the champion.[5][8]