Battle for Maccabi: “We will not allow a hostile takeover of the club”

The fight for control of Maccabi Tel Aviv has moved into the open, with the club’s long-serving chairman, Shimon Mizrahi, declaring that he will not allow what he called a hostile takeover.

Eurohoops reported that Mizrahi, who has led Maccabi since 1969, said he was exercising his pre-emption right to buy additional shares. He outlined his position in a letter distributed by the club to supporters. “We will not allow a hostile takeover of the club by a person who, in our opinion, does not care about Maccabi’s welfare,” Mizrahi wrote.

The dispute centers on a plan to sell control of the club to investor Jason Levien. Richard Deitz, who opposed the deal, said on Friday that he had exercised his own pre-emption right to acquire 38% of the shares. If completed, he said, his stake would rise from 17.5% to at least 55.5%, giving him a controlling shareholding.

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We will not allow a hostile takeover of the club by a person who, in our opinion, does not care about Maccabi’s welfare.

“I did this for one reason: to protect Maccabi,” Deitz said. A businessman who has been among the club’s shareholders since 2013, he argued that transferring control to an investor with no previous connection to Maccabi would carry too much risk. He said he could support a gradual arrival by a new partner, but opposed an abrupt transfer of control.

Mizrahi takes the opposite view. He supports the Recanati family and Levien joining the ownership group, saying the prospective partner has experience running sports clubs, NBA connections and knowledge of the EuroLeague. Mizrahi also accused Deitz of damaging the club’s stability and said personal ambitions must not outweigh Maccabi’s interests. Both men frame their actions as a defense of the club, but Eurohoops said it remains unclear who will ultimately control Maccabi’s shares.

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I did this for one reason: to protect Maccabi.