Hapoel Ironi Eilat

Hapoel Ironi Eilat
Hapoel Ironi Eilat logo
Nickname"Ha Krishim" (The Sharks)
LeaguesIsraeli Basketball Premier League
Founded1970 (1970)
ArenaBegin Arena
Capacity1,600
LocationEilat, Israel
Team colorsBlue, White
   
CEORani Cohen
PresidentTal Pinchas
Head coachOren Aharoni

Hapoel Ironi Eilat (Hebrew: הפועל אילת), for sponsorship reasons named Hapoel Yossi Avrahami Eilat, is an Israeli professional basketball club.[1][2][3] The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of professional basketball in Israel, following their recent promotion from the Liga Leumit at the end of the 2025–26 season. The team represents the far-South region of the country - the Arabah area, and the Red Sea city of Eilat.

History

The team earned promotion to the First Division (known variously as Ligat HaAl, the Super League, or the Israeli Basketball Premier League) for the first time in the 1990–91 season, while being coached by Arik Shivek.

In the 1996–97 season, the team lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the playoff semi-finals. The following season, the team reached the finals, in which it lost 0-3 to Maccabi Tel Aviv for the second consecutive year.

In early 2000, the team found itself in serious financial difficulties, which resulted in relegation to the Second Division (Liga Leumit, or the National League). Later the team disbanded, and re-established in the lowest league.

In the 2010–11 season, the team won the Association Cup, the cup of the lower leagues, after beating Maccabi Kiryat Bialik in the final.

In June 2012, the team gained the license of Habik'a B.C. to play in the Israeli Basketball Super League, starting with the 2012–13 season.

In June 2015, the team knocked out Israeli basketball powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League semi-finals, winning 3–2 in a best-of-five series. The team faced Hapoel Jerusalem in the finals, but lost.

At the end of the 2023–24 season, Hapoel Eilat were relegated to the Liga Leumit.

In August 2024, Hapoel Eilat merged with Maccabi Eilat into a joint team called Hapoel Ironi Eilat.

In the 2025–26 season, Eilat finished with a record of 29–1 in Liga Leumit, earning promotion back to the top division.

Season by season

Season Tier League Pos. Postseason State Cup League Cup European competitions
2010–11 3 Liga Artzit 4th — — — —
2011–12 3rd — — — —
2012–13 1 Premier League 3rd Semifinalist Quarterfinalist — —
2013–14 5th Semifinalist Runners-up Semifinalist —
2014–15 4th Runners-up Semifinalist Quarterfinalist —
2015–16 4th Semifinalist Round of 16 Runners-up —
2016–17 2nd Quarterfinalist Round of 16 Quarterfinalist —
2017–18 7th Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist —
2018–19 4th Semifinalist Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist —
2019–20 10th — Round of 16 Quarterfinalist —
2020–21 4th Semifinalist Round of 16 Quarterfinalist Balkan LeagueRS
2021–22 9th — — Runners-up 3 Champions LeagueQualifying rounds
4 Europe CupRegular season
2022–23 11th — — Quarterfinalist —
2023–24 13th — First round First round —

Source: Eurobasket.com

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Hapoel Ironi Eilat roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
F 1 United States Wheeler, Aaron 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 27 – (1998-09-24)24 September 1998
G/F 4 France Israel Elinger, Dean 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 22 – (2004-06-10)10 June 2004
G 5 Israel Rosenbaum, Daniel 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 29 – (1997-02-11)11 February 1997
F/C 7 Israel Ruina, Miron 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 28 – (1998-03-25)25 March 1998
SG 8 Israel Ben Moshe, Tzuf 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 29 – (1997-07-31)31 July 1997
G 9 Israel Pinchas, Sagi 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 21 – (2005-05-09)9 May 2005
G 10 United States McCullum, Kendale 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 30 – (1996-05-31)31 May 1996
F/C 12 United States Lieb, Brandon 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) 24 – (2002-04-19)19 April 2002
G/F 13 United States Hawkins, Javontae 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 32 – (1993-11-13)13 November 1993
F/C 21 United States Dickey, James 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 29 – (1996-11-28)28 November 1996
G/F 23 Israel Tal, Eliad 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 24 – (2002-05-14)14 May 2002
G 44 Israel Biton, Liam 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 18 – (2007-10-11)11 October 2007
PG 50 Israel Sznajderman, Yuval 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 23 – (2002-12-09)9 December 2002
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Israel Uriya Mizrahi
  • Israel Adam Kaplan
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: August 25, 2026

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C James Dickey Brandon Lieb
PF Aaron Wheeler Miron Ruina
SF Javontae Hawkins Eliad Tal Dean Elinger
SG Daniel Rosenbaum Tzuf Ben Moshe Liam Biton
PG Kendale McCullum Yuval Sznajderman Sagi Pinchas
  • The Israeli League rule requires every team to have at least one Israeli on the court at any time.
  • There should be at least 7 Israelis and up to 5 foreigners on a 12-men game sheet.

Source: basket.co.il

Honours

Domestic competitions

Amit Simhon
Runners-up: 1998, 2015
Runners-up: 2014
Runners-up: 2015, 2021

Lower division competitions

Winners: 1991 (South Division)
  • Association Cup
Champions (1): 2011

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Participation in Europe

Chanan Colman
Elishay Kadir

Even though Eilat has constantly qualified for European basketball, they choose not to participate due to financial difficulties.

Former managers

References

  1. ↑ "ISRAEL BASKETBALL SUPER LEAGUE | Israel Basketball | 2019-20 Season | Hapoel Eilat". basket.co.il.
  2. ↑ "Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". Eurobasket LLC.
  3. ↑ "Hapoel Eilat News, Rumors, Roster, Stats, Awards, Transactions, Depth Charts, Forums - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.
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