Nir Levine

Before entering coaching and football administration, Levine played as a forward for Hapoel Marmorek.[1] In a Knesset committee discussion, he said he had also represented Israel's youth national team while completing three years of office-based military service and continuing to train.[2] He described the experience: "I did three years of military service in an office with shifts and everything required, while at the same time going out to training."[2] He later drew on that experience when discussing arrangements that would allow elite junior athletes to complete military service without abandoning their sporting careers.[2]

Levine coached Maccabi Tel Aviv's senior team on several occasions, often after another coach's dismissal.[1] An early tenure began in the fourth round of the 2000 season, when he replaced Shlomo Scharf.[1] Over nearly two years, Maccabi twice finished near the top of the league and won two cups, although it did not win the league championship under Levine.[1]

He returned in the 2007/08 season after Eli Cohen's dismissal, and the team finished sixth.[1]

Levine again became interim coach after Motti Ivanir was dismissed in December 2011.[1][3] At the time, he was the professional manager of the club's youth department, which he had led to a youth-league championship in the preceding season.[1] He said he would lead the senior side for as long as required until a permanent coach was appointed.[1] The Jerusalem Post reported that he remained in charge until season's end, approximately the final five months of the campaign.[3]

A late-December match preview noted that Maccabi had won 2–0 away at Hapoel Rishon LeZion on September 10, 2011, before Levine's appointment, and had then recorded only one victory in seven further away Premier League matches.[4] After a loss to Ashdod, Levine attributed the team's poor play partly to errors, reduced self-confidence, and a lack of composure, while saying the players had made a genuine effort.[4]

Maccabi ultimately finished sixth and missed European qualification for the first time since the 2009/10 campaign.[3]

Beyond his work with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Levine served as technical director of Israel's youth national teams within the Israel Football Association.[2] In that capacity he appeared before a Knesset committee to discuss structural challenges facing young Israeli footballers.[2] His testimony addressed the importance of sports facilities near children's homes, the integration of schools and physical-education teachers into talent development, and arrangements enabling elite junior athletes to fulfil military service obligations while continuing their sporting careers.[2] By referring to his own experience as a youth international who trained during military service, he connected the policy discussion to the practical demands faced by young players.[2]