Hapoel Tel Aviv and Israeli Liberal Secularism

This chapter analyzes the rhetoric of hardcore Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel) football and basketball fans, and quantitatively examines the many people who sympathize with various teams. Our study reveals that stadium rhetoric is actually an expression of fundamental struggles between competing definitions of Israeliness. The rhetoric of Hapoel fans in the realm of Israeli sport is an uncommon combination of socialism, anti-nationalism and anti-racism. However, rather contradictorily, this rhetoric also lined with violence, sexism, classism, and Germanophobia. In addition, hardcore Hapoel fans use terminology associated with the Holocaust in a provocative manner. This rhetoric is partly related to the demographic of both the hardcore fans and the wider circle of sympathizers who tend to be mostly middle class and far more secular than the fans of other teams. It is argued that the transgressive rhetoric of Hapoel fans is partly related to the decline in the political power of the secular elite in Israel. These insights are based on an online survey that was conducted in September 2012, and the website and forums of Hapoel Tel Aviv fans, fans’ songs available on YouTube, as well as interviews with fans.