Beitar Jerusalem is battling for the Israel league title. Period.

As much as Barak Itzhaki would like to stay humble and modest and continuously say that it’s way too early to even be concerned about such things, well it’s time to face the facts. His yellow-and-black are deep in the race after defeating Maccabi Haifa 2-1 on Ziv Ben Shimol’s late winner to pull to within just 2-points of table leaders Hapoel Beer Sheva.

There is no more hemming and hawing about it, the secret is out as hard as Itzhaki wanted to keep it under wraps and hidden away, not to be spoken about and shunned at the thought of actually being the best team in the league.

There’s no doubt about it that Beitar is one of the most exciting and attractive teams that the league has to offer, but they are also the most lethal on the attack and have matured by leaps and bounds over last season. For the second straight game, Itzhaki’s charges found a way to take home 3-points instead of just one or even none as the heat was on once the Greens scored the equalizer via Kenji Gorre after an Omer Atzily had slotted home a penalty.

Beitar didn’t hang their heads in disgust, nor did they adjust their offense and falter under massive pressure from the Greens faithful. Once that tying goal found the back of Miguel Silva’s goal, they had to reset as they remained level headed and understood what they needed to do in order to walk out of Sammy Ofer Stadium victorious.

When Ben Shimol stepped onto the Haifa pitch, it was crystal clear that he had fire in his eyes as he searched for an opening to score his second goal of the season and that’s exactly what he did. The wiry midfielder, who had been with Maccabi Haifa the past two seasons but only made 3 appearances with the Greens having been loaned out to Leumit sides Bnei Yehuda and Hapoel Afula, picked the ball off of Goni Naor and went in all alone to beat keeper Heorhiy Yermakov and score the second half injury time stunner to send the Beitar faithful into ecstasy.

That’s Beitar Jerusalem, version 2025-26.

The previous week it was Adi Yona who played hero and ensured that the yellow-and-black would take maximum points while this week Ziv Ben Shimol did the deed.

That is what makes a championship contender.

Itzhaki spoke about how this season’s Beitar is quite different than last year’s team in terms of maturity and understanding what needs to be done in order to not come up short or in short, choke it up. Sure they blew the match at Hapoel Tel Aviv at Bloomfield Stadium earlier in the campaign but that type of game has been few and far between.

Lessons have been learned and what may have occurred last season when Beitar is at this point ancient history. One of the issues that Itzhaki has spoken about time and time again is the fall off after the first round last season when Beitar couldn’t find the right formula in the second round and then as he said, “collapsed” in the championship playoffs. In fact, when he spoke about lessons, it was not just that of the players but he himself as well.

There is an inner focus on themselves and not so much on the opponent. Sure, they will analyze and make sure they are prepared for certain elements that a specific rival will throw at them but it’s more on how they themselves will play, react and interact with one another to bring home the victory.

It’s a matter of having the know how to put away the win, polish off the game and take home the 3-points while not faltering and coming up short. Concentrating on the here and now and not looking too far ahead into the future is the key to success in Itzhaki’s eyes. That is what Beitar needs to do in order to really be a title contender and stay in the race for the championship. But in fact not just stay, but be a very active participant in that race all the way to the end of the season.

There will be pressure, just like there was at Sammy Ofer when all of a sudden the Greens found the late equalizer and there will be pressure to pull out a win on what will not be Beitar’s best day at the office which is what occurred against Maccabi Haifa. The yellow-and-black will need to be able to navigate these rocky waters and as Itzhaki said so eloquently, “We as a team will need to know how to stay on our path throughout the game, not lose it for a moment and keep paying the way I want. That makes me happiest.”