The Euroleague confirmed that Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv will be able to host their games back in Israel beginning on December 1, 2025 while Hapoel Jerusalem will be able to welcome EuroCup teams back to the Holy Land as well.

The good news which caught many off-guard was welcomed by the clubs as well as the fans who will be able to watch their teams play back at Yad Eliyahu after having been abroad since October 2023 with the outbreak of the war.

The yellow-and-blue were thrilled to return home and released a statement about the process that they went through in order to have the games back in Israel, “In recent weeks, Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club has worked to enable EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas to make a decision with the backing of all EuroLeague teams to resume hosting games in Israel starting December 1, 2025. Maccabi’s quiet efforts behind the scenes with the EuroLeague teams and the CEO bore fruit, as Maccabi received the backing of all EuroLeague teams and the decision to bring EuroLeague games back to Israel was made.

This is a hugely significant achievement for Israeli sports and for the State of Israel on the diplomatic front as well. Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club has once again proven to be one of the leading and most influential forces in European sports. We’ll see you soon at the arena.”

Hapoel Tel Aviv and owner Ofer Yannay also shared a release about being able to host games back in the Holy Land, “The club is happy and excited to announce the return of EuroLeague games to Israel starting December 1, 2025, subject to EuroLeague guidelines. The club thanks EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas, the organization’s management, and all the clubs for their understanding and support.”

Yannay added, “We welcome the significant decision to allow the return of EuroLeague games to Israel. A big thank you to the EuroLeague management, the participating clubs, and everyone involved in making this decision. This is an important step toward a return to normalcy and above all, it’s emotional to know that our fans will once again be able to experience EuroLeague games up close, where they rightfully belong.”

The Minister of Culture and Sport, Miki Zohar spoke about the Euroleague’s return, “I welcome the decision by the EuroLeague management to resume hosting games in Israel. This is an important decision that reflects the new international reality Israel is in following the signing of the agreement to return the hostages. Sport is a bridge that connects through our strength, and the return of the games brings with it an important and sporting message. The State of Israel warmly welcomes the teams, athletes, staff and fans who will come to Israel.”

Until the games return to Israel, the three teams will continue to host abroad with Maccabi Tel Aviv facing Real Madrid on Wednesday in Belgrade, Serbia. Head Coach Oded Katash talked about the continental competition coming back to Israel while also looking ahead in order to try and get onto a winning track and improve on the club’s 1-4 record.

“This is very heartwarming,” Katash began. “After more than two years, it’s truly emotional and I’m especially excited for the fans. I’m happy for Israeli sports and at the end of the day, this is a small gift that came as a result of the return of the hostages, but we have to remember it’s not over yet. I’m still not smiling, but what we’ve been through in the past two years was like a human experiment. I don’t think any sports team has gone through something like this. But there’s still a month to go and right now, we’re focused on basketball.

“I think the new players were very happy and ironically, the ones who went through these past two years couldn’t believe it. I asked four times if it was final, it just didn’t seem real. I think our fans and Thursday nights at Yad Eliyahu are the best way to bring players to Israel and convince them to come play for Maccabi Tel Aviv. It’s something they’ve really missed, and I have no doubt that those who haven’t experienced it will be moved very quickly.”

Katash shifted gears and discussed the club’s next opponent, “Real Madrid, like Olympiacos, I think they’re a bit healthier than Olympiacos and have a deeper roster, so it’s going to be tougher and more intense. They’re an excellent defensive team and they don’t have too many weaknesses. They’re dominant in size, which is something we’ve been struggling with since the start of the season. We’ll try to handle it collectively, but it’s going to need to be very aggressive.”

“I think the last loss, the way it happened, was really painful. But there are people here whose job it is to handle that. It’s not going to be easy against Real Madrid and we’re not the favorites, but of course we really want to win. I think it’s still too early to say the league is slipping away, we definitely don’t want to lose. It’s a balanced, long, and competitive league, but regardless, we want to win.”

Maccabi big man Roman Sorkin added, “We’re really happy and it gives us a lot of hope. There’s still a month to go, and we’re waiting to see it actually happen, but we’re very, very happy. Thanks go to everyone who worked on making this happen. It’s impossible to describe how much we miss the fans, it feels so far away. We miss the energy from the fans on EuroLeague Thursday nights.”