Maccabi versus Hapoel: The Political Divide that Developed in Sports in Eretz Israel, 1926–1935

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. Uriel Simri, Sport and Athletic Unions in Eretz Israel before World War I, Wingate Institute, 1968. 2. Haim Kaufman, ‘The Conceptual Relation between Worker Sports and Hapoel Associations’, Betnua, Vol. 3, No. 1 (May 1995), pp. 56–76. 3. On the process of the establishment of Hapoel see Haim Kaufman, ‘The Establishment of the Hapoel Sports Association’, Cateadra, Vol. 80 (June 1996), pp. 122–149. 4. Kfar Maccabia Archives 1–139; Working Archives iv-208-59a. 5. Davar, 4 July 1927. 6. On 19 June 1928 the sports column writer of Ha'aretz, Yavne (Bneyahu), criticized the end of activities of the committee with equal representation. On 12 March 1928 Davar reported in the name of Hapoel that negotiations with Maccabi were taking place. At some time between these dates discussions stopped. 7. No exact data regarding the size of the organization could be found. A letter from Maccabi Eretz Israel to the Hapoel Committee of the Zionist Histadrut, dated 3 April 1927, Wingate Archives, 1.10/18, reports 2000 members in 15 branches. According to surveys by Hapoel, in the Working Archives, iv-208-116b; Wingate Archives 5.02/28, the number of Hapoel members at the end of 1929 was about 2500. 8. Dan Giladi, The Yishuv during the Fourth Aliya, Tel Aviv, 1973, pp. 231–236. 9. See Haim Kaufman, ‘The Conceptual Relation between Worker Sports and Hapoel Associations’, Betnua, Vol. 3, No. 1 (May 1995), p. 136. 10. Ben Zion Dinur (ed.), The History of the Hagana, Vol. B, Tel Aviv, 1973, pp. 231–236. 11. Davar, 10 April 1928. 12. See Davar, 9 August 1928; Ha'aretz, 5 August 1928, 26 February 1929. 13. On the circumstances under which Hapoel quit see the report (December 1931–December 1932), Working Archives, iv-244 (printed material), clause 12. See also the agreement (22 February 1933), Working Archives, iv-244-115. 14. For descriptions of violence in football games see Davar, 20 November 1927, 15 March, 10 April, 1 August, 5 December 1928, 8 February 1929; Ha'aretz, 25 December 1928, 5 March, 14 May 1929; Doar Hayom, 4 June, 3 August, 3 October 1926. 15. The Ben-Gurion Diary, IDF Archives, 2058. See the report on the activities of the Hapoel Association, 17 December 1928, Working Archives, iv-224-116b. 16. Hapoel Centre Newsletter 8–9, October 1929, Working Archives (printed material). 17. On the Physical Culture Council episode in 1929 see a letter from Bneyahu to Perlstein (28 June 1929), Working Archives, iv-244-120. See also Ha'aretz, 7 August 1929; Decisions made by the Sixth Council, Working Archives, iv-208-1-179; The founding meeting of the National Council for Physical Culture, 16 January 1930, Working Archives, iv-244-121. 18. The decision of the national committee, July 1931, Working Archives, iv-244-126. See the protocol of the Physical Culture Council meeting,19 April 1932, Working Archives, iv-244-136. See letter by Henrietta Szold, 4 May 1932. 19. Agreement, 30 May 1930, Working Archives, iv-244-81. On contacts made for the approval of the agreement see Newsletter, no. 12, 25 April 1930, Working Archives, iv-208-1-179. See also the decision by Hapoel, 9–10, May 1930 and the protocol of the meeting between World Maccabi proxies and Shapira, Wingate Archives, 1.09/59. 20. On negotiations with Lord Melchet see Memorandum, 1 February 1933, Working Archives, iv-244-62. 21. On Maccabi's preparations for the first Maccabias see Josef Yekutieli, My Way to the Maccabia, Nes Ziona, 1969; Haim Wein, The Maccabias in Eretz Israel, Tel Aviv, 1980; George Eisen, ‘The Maccabian Games’, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Maryland, 1979. On the differences between Hapoel and Maccabi regarding the Maccabias see Haim Kaufman, ‘The Conflict during the British Mandate, between the Hapoel Association and the Maccabi Organization on Participation in the Maccabias’, Betnua, Vol. 2, No. 3 (May 1994), pp. 51–70. 22. On the decisions of the first Hapoel Committee see Working Archives, iv-208-285b; the Maccabi presidency meeting, Hapoel Centre, 1 January 1932, Wingate Archives, 1.09/4. 23. See protocol of meeting held in the offices of the Jewish Agency, 24 January 1932 and Meeting, 11 January 1932, Working Archives, iv-244-136. Also see Haim Arlozorov, Jerusalem Diary, Tel Aviv, 1949, pp. 188–190; Ben Gurion Diary, IDF Archives, 2066. 24. The Meeting at the Agency management, 4 April 1932 and Friedenthal's letter the following day, Working Archives, iv-244-136. Additional informationNotes on contributorsHaim KaufmanHaim Kaufman is a historian and a lecturer at the Zinman College, Wingate Institute.