Eli Ohana

Eliyahu "Eli" Ohana (; born ) is an Israeli former professional footballer and the former chairman of Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem. He played as a forward or attacking midfielder for Beitar Jerusalem, KV Mechelen, S.C. Braga, and the Israel national football team, who is considered one of Israel's finest footballers, occasionally was dubbed "King Ohana" by fans and local news outlets. He managed Beitar Jerusalem, Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, Maccabi Petah Tikva, Hapoel Kfar Saba, the Israel national under-19 football team, the seniors' Israel national football team (interim). He also played for Team Israel at the 1981 Maccabiah Games, winning a bronze medal.

Early and personal life Ohana was born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel, to an Israeli family of both Sephardi Jewish and Mizrahi Jewish (Moroccan-Jewish) descent, who had immigrated to Israel in 1955, and resided in the Jerusalemite neighbourhood of Kiryat HaYovel. Prior to Ohana's birth, his family initially resided in a ma'abara within the city of Haifa, Israel, and then moved to the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, Israel. Ohana has seven brothers and two sisters, one of whom is from his father's previous marriage. They struggled with financial issues back then. His younger brother is the former footballer Zion Ohana.

At age 11, Ohana joined the youth academy of Israeli club of Beitar Jerusalem at the encouragement of his brother Yossi Ohana. His father, a Masorti Jew, was initially opposed but allowed him to join on the condition that he attends synagogue before practice every Saturday (Shabbat).

At age 23, Ohana signed with KV Mechelen in Belgium. (The money from the Ohana sale paid for the Bayit VeGan pitches used since then for the team practice.) After one season, Ohana was instrumental in the club winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, becoming the first Israeli soccer player to win a European title. After one season, Ohana helped them return to the Liga Leumit (National League) and then guided the club to a league title. Five years later, Ohana led the club to back-to-back league titles. After an injury in the 7th game of the 1997/98 season, Ohana did not play any more that season. He played some games in 1998/99 but retired before the end of the season.

In the youth team of Beitar he played under number 9, in Mechelen under 10, in Beitar Jerusalem under 11.

In 1990 Ohana was called to the squad for a game against the Soviet Union national football team. Minutes before the game began, Ohana and the two other legionnaires of the Israeli team, Ronny Rosenthal and Shalom Tikva, realized that their insurance had not been arranged as promised, and they refused to go onto the pitch. All the players were punished, with Ohana receiving the worst punishment, banned from 10 league games and banned for four years from the national team.

In 2010, Dror Kashtan, the coach of the Israel national football team quit from his position, and Ohana was made the caretaker. With Ohana on the lines, Israel beat Romania 2–0 in a friendly match. That game started rumours Ohana would become the new head coach, but Ohana said in an interview his time was yet to come.

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 4 April 1984 Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel 1–0 3–0 Friendly 2. 9 October 1984 Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece 2–1 2–2 3. 21 November 1984 Petah Tikva Municipal Stadium, Petah Tikva, Israel 1–0 1–1 4. 19 December 1984 2–0 2–0 5. 1 May 1985 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 1–1 1–1 6. 8 September 1985 3–0 5–0 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification 7. 4–0 8. 5–0 9. 26 February 1986 1–0 1–2 Friendly 10. 19 March 1989 1–0 1–1 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification 11. 16 April 1989 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia 1–0 1–1 12. 23 February 1994 Yud-Alef Stadium, Ashdod, Israel 1–0 2–0 Friendly 13. 2–0 14. 20 September 1995 Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem, Israel 1–0 3–1 15. 15 December 1996 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 1–0 1–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 16. 30 April 1997 1–0 2–0 17. 2–0

Political career Some of his friends are well-known politicians of the right-wing Likud party (Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuven Rivlin

Ahead of the 2015 elections, Naftali Bennett, the head the right-wing religious Zionist Jewish Home party, placed Ohana on position number ten of his party's election list. After three days of harsh criticism from party members who were displeased by Bennett's choice of an outsider who did not match the party's right-wing character, Ohana withdrew "after being asked to do so by minister Bennett".

Honours Player Beitar Jerusalem Israeli championship: 1986–87, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98 Israel State Cup: 1984–85, 1985–86 Toto Cup Top Division: 1997–98 Israel Super Cup: 1986

KV Mechelen

Belgian First Division: 1988–89 European Cup Winners Cup: 1987–88 (winners) European Super Cup: 1988 Amsterdam Tournament: 1989 Joan Gamper Trophy: 1989 Jules Pappaert Cup: 1990

Individual Bravo Award: 1988 Israeli Footballer of the Year: Israeli player of the Year: 1984, 1997 Member of the Israeli Football Hall of Fame

Manager Israeli Head Coach of the Year: 2007