The long-running standoff between Israeli football's two great institutional powers may be easing. Attorney Moran Meiri, deputy chairman of the Israel Football Association, sat down this week with Kaneret Tzadaf, CEO of the Hapoel Center, and Gal Levi, the center's deputy director, in what ONE reports is a step toward fielding a joint ticket in the association's upcoming leadership elections.
The meeting caps months of friction. According to ONE's earlier reporting, Hapoel Center had threatened to run a rival list, and even a rival candidate, against incumbent chairman Moshe "Shino" Zoaretz after feeling shortchanged in board representation following the last election cycle.
Hapoel officials had floated former government minister Issawi Frej as a potential standard-bearer against Zoaretz. But ONE reports the center has since concluded that Frej stands no realistic chance against an incumbent who continues to enjoy broad, sweeping support across the football establishment - prompting the shift toward negotiating terms for a unified slate instead of an open contest.
With the principle of cooperation now largely accepted by both sides, ONE reports the talks move next into the harder, more granular territory: how a combined list would actually be built, the formula for dividing board seats between the Maccabi and Hapoel centers, and who besides Zoaretz would fill out the ticket.
Zoaretz, who first took the chairmanship in December 2022 after unseating Oren Hasson in the federation's first direct leadership election, has built a wide coalition since - a standing underlined by his recent election to UEFA's executive committee, one of only two spots secured among five candidates. That broader stature is precisely what has left rival camps calculating that opposition is no longer worth the fight.
The timing adds urgency to the negotiations. Israeli football association elections are formally expected around December 2026, though there have been growing calls within the sport to move the vote up to as early as August - meaning any agreement on a joint list would need to be locked in well before then.
For now, no formula has been finalized and the composition of a combined ticket remains under discussion. But the Meiri-Tzadaf meeting marks the clearest signal yet that Israeli football's two dominant power centers are working to avoid another bruising internal election fight.
