2016–17 Israeli Premier League
The 2016–17 Israeli Premier League was the eighteenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 75th season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 20 August 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva won a back-to-back title, finishing 13 points ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Teams
A total of fourteen teams were competing in the league, including twelve sides from the 2015–16 season and two promoted teams from the 2015–16 Liga Leumit.Maccabi Netanya and Hapoel Acre were relegated to the 2016–17 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2015–16 Israeli Premier League in the bottom two places.
F.C. Ashdod and Hapoel Ashkelon were promoted after finishing the 2015–16 Liga Leumit in the top two places.
Stadia and locations
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Beitar Jerusalem | Jerusalem | Teddy Stadium | |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Sakhnin | Doha Stadium | |
| Bnei Yehuda | Tel Aviv | HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva | |
| F.C. Ashdod | Ashdod | Yud-Alef Stadium | |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | Ashkelon | Sala Stadium | |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Be'er Sheva | Turner Stadium | |
| Hapoel Haifa | Haifa | Sammy Ofer Stadium | |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | Kfar Saba | Levita Stadium | |
| Hapoel Ra'anana | Ra'anana | Netanya Stadium, Netanya | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Tel Aviv | HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva | |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Kiryat Shmona | Kiryat Shmona Stadium | |
| Maccabi Haifa | Haifa | Sammy Ofer Stadium | |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Petah Tikva | HaMoshava Stadium | |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Tel Aviv | Netanya Stadium, Netanya |
| HaMoshava Stadium | Netanya Stadium | Sammy Ofer Stadium | |
| Bnei Yehuda Hapoel Tel Aviv Maccabi Petah Tikva | Hapoel Ra'anana Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Haifa Maccabi Haifa | |
| Doha Stadium | Kiryat Shmona Stadium | Levita Stadium | |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Hapoel Kfar Saba | |
| Sala Stadium | Teddy Stadium | Turner Stadium | Yud-Alef Stadium |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | Beitar Jerusalem | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | F.C. Ashdod |
Personnel and sponsorship
| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor |
| Beitar Jerusalem |  | | | Givova | |
| Bnei Sakhnin | | | | Givova | Scania |
| Bnei Yehuda | | | | Kappa | Landora Group |
| F.C. Ashdod | | | | Jartazi | SeeMe |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | | | | Joma | Albar |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | | | | Puma | Tadiran |
| Hapoel Haifa | | | | Diadora | Citrus |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | | Eli Cohen | | Macron | Trigo |
| Hapoel Ra'anana | | | | Umbro | ME Tel Aviv |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Nisanov Group | | | Nike | GETDRIVE |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | | | | Umbro | Ituran |
| Maccabi Haifa | | | | Nike | Honda |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | | | | Macron | Panorama North |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv |  |  | | Adidas | UNICEF |
Foreign players
The number of foreign players is restricted to six per team, while only five can be registered to a game.| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 |
| Beitar Jerusalem |  Claudemir |  Johan Audel | Antoine Conte |  Marcel Heister |  Erik Sabo |  Jesús Rueda |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Georginho | Wanderson |  Lassina Dao | Abraham Paz | ||
| Bnei Yehuda |  Pedro Galván |  Antonio Mršić |  Tijan Jaiteh |  Nerijus Valskis | Emilijus Zubas |  Marko Jovanović |
| F.C. Ashdod | Dolly Menga |  Sandro Gotal | Karlo Bručić | Lúcio Maranhão | Alan Wigor |  Georgi Batyayev |
| Hapoel Ashkelon |  Issoumaila Lingane |  David Manga | Josip Ivančić | Mirko Oremuš |  Dele Aiyenugba | Branislav Jovanović |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | William Soares |  Mihály Korhut | Anthony Nwakaeme | John Ogu |  Miguel Vítor |  Ovidiu Hoban |
| Hapoel Haifa | Adilson Bahia | Júlio César |  Žarko Korać |  Piet Velthuizen | Bruno Pinheiro | |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | Bruno Andrade | Diogo Kachuba |  Mavis Tchibota | Sunny Omoregie | Dušan Matović | Slobodan Simović |
| Hapoel Ra'anana |  Rodgers Kola | Conlyde Luchanga | Emmanuel Mbola | |||
| Hapoel Tel Aviv |  Ezechiel N'Douassel |  Michael Seaton | John Chibuike | |||
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Kassio | Mauricio | Didier Brossou | Jacob Njoku | ||
| Maccabi Haifa |  Kamil Vacek |  Hólmar Örn Eyjólfsson |  Enis Alushi |  Fitim Azemi | Marc Valiente |  Gary Kagelmacher |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | Allyson | Romário |  Mihai Roman | Nenad Adamović | Aitor | Carlos Cuéllar |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Óscar Scarione | Marcelo | Ramon | Viðar Örn Kjartansson | Rúben Micael | Predrag Rajković |
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.
All Hapoel Tel Aviv foreign players were released due to budget cuts.
Managerial changes
Regular season
Regular season table
Regular season results
Championship round
Key numbers for pairing determinationChampionship round table
| 2016–17 Israeli Premier League champions |
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 4th title |
Championship round results
Relegation round
Key numbers for pairing determinationRelegation round table
Relegation round results
Positions by round
The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. Note that Championship round teams will play in 36 matchdays, and the Relegation round teams will compete in only 33 matches.| Team \ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| Team \ Round | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Beitar Jerusalem | 6 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Bnei Sakhnin | 8 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |||
| Hapoel Haifa | 10 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |||
| F.C. Ashdod | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||
| Hapoel Ra'anana | 11 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |||
| Bnei Yehuda | 9 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | |||
| Hapoel Ashkelon | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | |||
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | 14 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | |||
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 13 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
Source:
| 2017–18 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round | |
| 2017–18 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round | |
| Relegation to 2017–18 Liga Leumit |
Season statistics
Top scorers
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Viðar Örn Kjartansson | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 19 |
| 2 | Tal Ben Haim | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 15 |
| 3 |  Anthony Nwakaeme | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 14 |
| 3 | Ben Sahar | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 14 |
| 3 | Itay Shechter | Beitar Jerusalem | 14 |
| 6 | Idan Vered | Beitar Jerusalem | 11 |
| 7 | Gidi Kanyuk | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 10 |
| 7 | Eli Elbaz | Hapoel Kfar Saba | 10 |
| 9 | Mahran Lala | Hapoel Haifa | 9 |
| 9 | Guy Melamed | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 9 |
Source:
Hat-tricks
Attendances
Football clubs with an average home attendance of at least 10,000:| Team | Home average |
| Maccabi Haifa | 19,752 |
| Hapoel Beer-Sheva | 14,082 |