Maccabi Ashdod's rise through the Israeli basketball pyramid keeps its core intact. Shahar Shalmon, the 23-year-old guard who has been part of back-to-back promotions with the club, has agreed to stay on for a third straight season, ONE reported on Sunday — this time in the top-flight Ligat Ha'al rather than the second-tier Liga Leumit he has known so far.
Shalmon, who stands 1.90m, came through the Maccabi Rishon LeZion youth system before joining Ashdod ahead of the 2024/25 campaign. He has been a fixture of the club's climb ever since, and last season, playing in Liga Leumit, he averaged 6.8 points and 4 rebounds a game — modest numbers, but enough to make him a fan favourite in a squad built around continuity rather than marquee names.
His return was echoed by a separate report from Ashdod Net, which named Reviv Pitschon alongside Shalmon as players the club is retaining as it prepares for its first season in the top division. For a newly promoted side, keeping a homegrown-feeling piece like Shalmon around is as much a statement of identity as it is a basketball decision.
The same ONE report carried a second, smaller item from elsewhere in the league: Ron Ben Dor, a 19-year-old center listed at 2.07m, is on the move. Ben Dor, who played this past season for Hapoel Galil Elyon, is joining Maccabi Petach Tikva, with the report tying the switch to Liga Leumit.
No transfer fee, contract length or quotes from either club accompanied the report, and Ben Dor's exact registration status — whether he departs Galil Elyon's senior roster or its development ranks — was not spelled out. At 19 and already 2.07m, though, he fits the profile of a big man clubs like to bring in on a development track rather than a marquee signing.
Between the two items, the picture from ONE is one of a Liga Leumit engine room quietly restocking itself: a proven promotion piece staying loyal to the club that gave him his platform, and a teenage center looking for more minutes with a new one.
