Itzik Ahronovich has spent the better part of two decades as one of the loudest, most recognisable voices covering Maccabi Haifa on local radio, and this week that voice became the story itself. A day after raising his tone emotionally on air while discussing the club's difficult start to the campaign, the veteran commentator went back on ONE's phone-in programme to explain himself, after clips of the outburst drew concern and criticism on social media.
"Maccabi Haifa is my life, I take it to heart, I feel good," Ahronovich told listeners, according to ONE, pushing back on the idea that the moment reflected anything more than a burst of frustration from a fan who happens to also be a broadcaster.
He was unapologetic about the passion itself, but keen to correct what he described as a misreading of his target. "I raised my voice for a few seconds. The blame isn't on the players, only on the professional staff," he said, distinguishing between his patience for Haifa's coaching setup and his loyalty to the men wearing the shirt.
To make the point concrete, he named names. "It doesn't matter who the players are — whether it's Yarin Levi, Zohar Zesano or Goni Na'or — the fault isn't with the players, only with the professional staff," Ahronovich said, rattling off three men from Haifa's dressing room to underline that his criticism was never meant to land on them.
Levi, a young striker, returned to Sami Ofer Stadium this year after an eye-catching loan spell in green-and-black-turned-yellow-and-black at Beitar Jerusalem, where he established himself as a first-team regular. Zesano, a right back, joined Haifa in a swap deal involving Beitar Jerusalem, while Na'or is a well-travelled defender who has featured for the club in recent seasons after arriving from Hapoel Jerusalem.
Ahronovich also used the interview to address the wider concern his outburst had triggered, saying he had messaged colleagues directly to reassure them. "I sent you a WhatsApp and said I feel good. Maccabi Haifa is my life and I take it to heart," he said, according to ONE, before recalling an earlier scare: he needed medical attention at Rambam Hospital during a tense past encounter against Kazakhstan's Aktobe, a club Haifa fans associate with one of the most dramatic nights in the team's European history.
None of it, he made clear, was intended as a signal that he was stepping back from the microphone or from the club he has followed for years. If anything, the episode was a reminder of how closely local radio in Haifa is stitched into the emotional life of the fanbase — for better and, this week, briefly, for worse.
Maccabi Haifa have not commented publicly on the commentator's remarks, and ONE's report did not detail specific results behind the "crisis" Ahronovich referenced on air.
