Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

is a popular sport, with a multi-tiered professional club league system, as well as men's and women's national teams.

Professional league structure

Israeli Basketball Premier League

Ligat Ha'Al or the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

, is the top tier level league of basketball competition in Israel, making it Israel's primary basketball competition. Ligat HaAl comprises the top twelve basketball clubs, and was founded in 1954.

Liga Leumit

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

is the second tier level league of basketball competition. The league contains 14 clubs that compete in a home-and-away round-robin. At the end of the season, the top eight clubs advance to the play-offs. The first round is played on a best-of-three basis. The four winning clubs advance to two best-of-five playoffs, the winners of which are promoted to the Super League. The two teams that finish at the bottom of the table are relegated to Liga Artzit.

Liga Artzit

Liga Artzit Liga Artzit (, lit. ''Country League'') is the defunct third division of Israeli Football League, beneath its highest division Premier League and the second division Liga Leumit. Before being cancelled in 2009, it was run by the Israel Football A ...

is the third tier level league of basketball competition. The league contains 24 clubs (in two districts of 12 teams each one), which compete in a home-and-away round-robin. At the end of the season, the first team from each district (South/North) is promoted to the Liga Leumit. The two teams that finish at the bottom of the table are relegated to Liga Alef.

Liga Alef

Liga Alef is the fourth tier in Israeli Basketball.

Liga Bet

Liga Bet is the fifth and lowest level tier in Israeli Basketball.

State Cups

Israeli Basketball State Cup

The

Israeli Basketball State Cup The Israeli Basketball State Cup () is the second most important professional basketball competition in Israel, after the Israeli Super League. It is the national federation cup of Israel. The tournament began in the 1955–56 season, and is run ...

is the second most important basketball competition in Israel, after Ligat HaAl. The tournament began in 1956, and is run by the IBA. The tournament format consists rounds each consisting of one game elimination matches.

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

has won the most tournaments, having won 45, last winning the contest in the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season.

Israeli Basketball National League Cup

The tournament cup for teams from the second division. tournament held since 2021.

Israeli Basketball League Cup

The

Israeli Basketball League Cup The Israeli Basketball League Cup is a pre-season professional basketball tournament that is contested between sports clubs, clubs. It has been held in Israel since 2006. It is held during the week before the start of the Israeli Basketball Premie ...

is a pre-season basketball tournament held since 2006. It is held the week before the Ligat HaAl season.

Men's team title holders

Israel national basketball teams

The combined Men's and Women's basket team is ranked 55th in the world, and 23rd in the Europe.

Men's

The

Israel national basketball team The Israel men's national basketball team () represents Israel in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Israeli Basketball Association. Israel is currently ranked 39th in the FIBA Men's World Ranking, FIBA World Ran ...

is a men's basketball team that represents Israel in international competitions. The Israeli team has participated 28 times in the European championship tournament. Their best achievements were a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in 1979, and 5th place in 1953 and 1977. Israel is currently ranked 37th in the world by

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

, and 14th in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

(''July 2014''). Israel will also be the host nation of the competition in 2017.

Women's

The

Israel women's national basketball team The Israel women's national basketball team represents Israel in international women's basketball matches and is controlled by the Israel Basketball Association. Israel have hosted the FIBA Women's EuroBasket in 1991, and hosted again in 2023 al ...

is a women's basketball team that represents Israel in international competitions. The women's team is ranked 36th in the world, and 16th in Europe. (July 2014) They have competed in the EuroBasket Women's tournament 6 times, but have won no metals. Their highest ever finish was 8th place in 1991.

All-time participation table

Combined table of men's and women's basketball teams, both senior and youth teams. Not included two discontinued competitions: Men's U-21 World Championship (three participations in four editions) and Women's U-21 World Championship for Women (one participation in two editions). Not included either,

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

Arenas

There are Seven main and Big basketball arenas in Israel which are: *

Ashkelon Sports Arena The Ashkelon Sport Arena () is an indoor arena, indoor sporting arena located in Ashkelon, Israel. The arena opened in 1999 and is home to the Elitzur Eito Ashkelon Basketball Club. The arena has a capacity of 3,000 permanent seats. Sports ve ...

Conch Arena Conch Arena (, ''Ulam HaKunchiya'') is a multi-purpose sports arena that was built in Be'er Sheva, Israel, by the city council and National Lottery grant of Mifal HaPais. The arena is located in Be'er Sheva's Sports Quarter, on Etsel Street, adja ...

* Drive in Arena *

Holon Toto Hall Holon Toto Hall is an indoor arena that is located in the Tel Aviv District city of Holon, Israel. The arena is mainly used to host basketball games. It has a seating capacity of 5,500. History Holon Toto Hall was opened in March 2015. In 2016, t ...

Menora Mivtachim Arena Yad Eliyahu Arena, , known as the Menora Mivtachim Arena () and formerly as the Nokia Arena () for commercial reasons, is a large multi-purpose sports indoor arena that is located in southeast Tel Aviv, Israel. The arena is primarily used to host ...

* Pais Arena Jerusalem * Romema Arena

Israel Basketball Association

The IBA is the official governing body of basketball in Israel. The organization oversees every aspect of the sport including: *Team and player registration, *League rules, *Issuing league schedules *Certifying match results *Referees and Statisticians certification, and *The National team. The IBA also handles associating with international bodies such as

and

Euroleague Basketball (company) Euroleague Basketball, run by Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA), is a private company that runs and operates men's professional basketball club competitions in Europe, the first-tier level EuroLeague, and the second-tier level EuroCup. It has ...

(who organizes the

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

NBA connections

Amare Stoudemire

Amare Stoudemire Amar'e Carsares Stoudemire (born November 16, 1982) is an American-Israeli professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a player development assistant for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NB ...

, from the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, best known for his time with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

and

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, in the summer of 2013, became a major shareholder of Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club together with sports agent Arn Tellem and Ori Allon. The team moved into its new home, the Jerusalem Arena, in August 2014. Stoudemire, in the summer of 2014 was scheduled to conduct his first camp in Israel, in Tel Aviv. Due to

Operation Protective Edge The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

he canceled the camp on 14 July. He ended up playing for Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

NBA/WNBA players from Israel

Omri Casspi Omri Moshe Casspi (; born June 22, 1988) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He mainly played at the small forward position, but also played at the power forward position. Casspi was drafted 23rd overall in the 2009 NBA draft b ...

played for seven different teams over a ten-year NBA career. He was drafted 23rd overall in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball p ...

, making him the first Israeli to be selected in the first round of an NBA draft.

Gal Mekel Gal Mekel (, pronounced ; born March 4, 1988) is an Israeli former professional basketball player. He played for the Dallas Mavericks and spent time in Europe and Israel. He played college basketball for two years at Wichita State University. He ...

, returned to Israel in 2016 after previously playing for the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

and

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

. He previously played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for two years at

Wichita State Wichita State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 ...

. Deni Avdija currently plays for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

Shay Doron Shay Doron (; born April 1, 1985) is an Israeli professional basketball player in the Israeli league. She plays for Maccabi Ashdod. Biography Doron was born in Ramat Hasharon, Israel, to Yehuda and Tamari Doron. For her first two years in hig ...

, in 2007 played for the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

References

{{Basketball in Europe by country