Ataa Jaber (, ; born 3 October 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

club

Qatar SC Qatar Sports Club () is a sports club based in Doha, Qatar. It is best known for its football team which competes in the Qatar Stars League. The club was founded in 1961 with the merger of two Qatari football clubs, Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour. They ...

. Born in Israel, he plays for the Palestine national team.

Early life

Jaber was born in

Majd al-Krum Majd al-Krum ( ''Majd al-Kurūm'', ) is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab town located in the Galilee in Israel's Northern District (Israel), Northern District about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Acre, Israel, Acre. Its inhabitants are primaril ...

, Israel, to a Muslim-Arab family.

Club career

Ataa Jaber got his professional start with

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

making his senior team debut at 17 years old in the 2011–12 season. Unable to reserve a place in the first team, Ataa Jaber signed for

Bnei Sakhnin Bnei Sakhnin F.C. (, , ) is an Israeli professional football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful club among the Arab-Israeli clubs in the country, having won the State Cup in 2004. History Early years Bn ...

during the 2016–17 season. He moved to

F.C. Ashdod Moadon Sport Ashdod (, ''Sport Club Ashdod''), commonly referred to as F.C Ashdod (, ''Mem Samekh Ashdod''), is an Israeli professional football club, playing in the port city of Ashdod. The unusual name of the team (unlike most Israeli foot ...

in 2021 on a one-year deal. In 2022, Jaber made his first move to a foreign league signing with

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

club Neftchi Baku.

International career

Jaber had represented and captained the Israel national U21 team. However in 2023, he filed for a nationality switch to represent

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

internationally. He debuted in a friendly 0–0 tie with

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

on 14 June. After the

October 7 attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

, Israeli Interior Minister

Moshe Arbel Moshe Arbel (; born 26 December 1983) is an Israeli Haredi Judaism, Haredi rabbi and politician. He currently serves as the Ministry of Interior (Israel), Minister of Interior, having been appointed a permanent replacement for Aryeh Deri, who was ...

called for Jaber's Israeli citizenship to be revoked.

Career Statistics

Club

Honours

Club

;Maccabi Haifa *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involves clubs of all standards ...

(1): 2015–16 ;Netchi Baku *

Azerbaijan Cup The Azerbaijan Cup () is a major association football competition in Azerbaijan. In its original form, it started in 1936, when Azerbaijan was a republic of the Soviet Union and it was not disputed by Azerbaijani teams in the Soviet league pyramid ...

(1): Runner-Up 2022-23 Azerbaijan Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaber, Ataa 1994 births Living people Footballers from Majd al-Krum Palestinian men's footballers Palestine men's youth international footballers Israeli men's footballers Israel men's under-21 international footballers Arab citizens of Israel Arab-Israeli footballers Israeli people of Palestinian descent Palestinian people of Israeli descent Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Bnei Sakhnin F.C. players F.C. Ashdod players Neftçi PFK players Qatar SC players Israeli Premier League players Liga Leumit players Azerbaijan Premier League players Qatar Stars League players Palestinian expatriate men's footballers Israeli expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Palestinian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Men's association football midfielders Israeli Muslims Palestinian Muslims 2023 AFC Asian Cup players 21st-century Israeli sportsmen