Matan Adelson has broken his silence on the crest controversy that soured relations between Hapoel Jerusalem's ownership and its supporters last season, telling ONE that every decision he has made since taking over the club has been guided by one question: what is actually best for Hapoel Jerusalem.
"Since arriving, my single focus is determining what serves Hapoel Jerusalem best long-term," Adelson said, in comments that amount to the fullest public explanation yet of a rebrand plan that blew up in the club's face when it leaked online before it was ever formally presented.
According to a report by Walla Sport last month, a new emblem commissioned from a branding agency leaked on social media roughly a week and a half before a planned unveiling event. The reaction was immediate: fans opposed to any change to the club's traditional symbol launched a petition that gathered around 1,200 signatures within two hours.
Facing that backlash, the club froze the rebrand and instead sent three alternative crest designs to season-ticket holders and prospective buyers for a 24-hour vote, while the special reveal event itself was pushed back to around the start of the new season, Walla reported.
Adelson conceded the club mishandled the rollout. "Unfortunately, before we could present our vision properly, it leaked, and people saw only an image without context," he told ONE, acknowledging that the images fans reacted to online were never meant to be judged in isolation.
He was unapologetic, however, about his willingness to make unpopular calls. "Leadership means making difficult decisions, not just easy ones," he said. "Not everyone will accept my choices, but I bear responsibility for them."
Adelson told ONE he now plans to sit down with fan representatives directly and will unveil the finished crest before the new season tips off, framing the visual refresh as an attempt to modernise the club's identity without erasing its history.
He described the logo as one strand of a wider set of changes at the club, alongside an expansion of the professional and administrative staff and the rollout of new digital platforms for supporters — part of a broader push, in his telling, to reconnect a fan base that has grown frustrated with the ownership.
"I want success and a stronger community. I cannot achieve this alone — it requires players, coaches, staff, sponsors, and believers," Adelson said, closing on a conciliatory note aimed at supporters he needs back onside before the campaign starts.
Adelson, son of the late Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, bought Hapoel Jerusalem in 2023 and holds roughly 90 percent of the club, with a fan association owning the remainder. The team, now sponsored as Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem, plays out of the Pais Arena in Malha and is chasing a return to continental competition this season.
For now, the crest itself remains unrevealed, and it is the fans' mood rather than the final design that will determine whether Adelson's intervention has actually closed the rift before the Israeli Basketball Super League season begins.
