As Israeli football edges toward the start of a new season, the man running the country's professional leagues is again talking contingency plans rather than fixtures.
Nir Yankelevich, acting CEO of the Israel Pro Football Leagues management (known in Hebrew as Minhelet HaLigot), told ONE in an interview published this week that the league is bracing for the possibility of another wartime halt. "We've again reached a situation of war - that's beyond football," he said, before adding the line that gives the moment its edge: "We're ready for everything. If we need to stop the league, we'll stop it."
It is not an abstract threat. Ligat Ha'al was already suspended for roughly five weeks this year, from February 28 until April 4, after Israel and Iran traded fire in what officials called Operation Lion's Roar, forcing matches off across the top flight and the National League alike.
Yankelevich indicated the league's approach hasn't changed since then: if the security picture shifts again, organizers will first pause and reassess before deciding whether games can go ahead. "Whenever an attack begins, the first thing that happens is the situation gets put on hold," he said, adding that the Home Front Command's guidance to clubs so far tracks with what the public already knows. The comments come as the league management works through the routine logistics of preparing grounds for the 2026/27 campaign - including checking that shelter and safe-room facilities are in order at venues such as Sakhnin and Ramat Hasharon.
Yankelevich used the same conversation to address a more mundane but pointed complaint: substandard water and refreshments sold at some stadium kiosks. "That's not acceptable - it doesn't matter which ground you go to," he said, signaling the league intends to push clubs on the issue.
With the new season opening in the height of summer, he also touched on hydration protocols for players during matches. Referees, he said, will apply criteria set by the league's medical department on when to call mandatory drinks breaks in extreme heat, framing it plainly: "Player health comes above everything."
The remarks also touched on an ongoing legal dispute tied to Tiberias's stadium situation, part of the broader list of administrative issues the league management is untangling before the campaign gets under way.
Israel's 2026/27 football calendar is already in motion. The Toto Champions Cup opener between the reigning league champion and cup holder kicked off the season on July 12, with the wider Toto Cup group stage beginning the weekend of July 25 - five days ahead of the National League's equivalent. The Ligat Ha'al regular season itself is slated to start on August 22, with the National League beginning its midweek rounds a few days earlier, on August 18-19.
For now, Yankelevich's message is less about fixtures than about posture: the league wants clubs, players and fans to know that if the security situation deteriorates again, the same playbook used earlier this year - pause first, reassess, then decide - is ready to be used once more.
