Hapoel Tel Aviv announced Thursday morning that the have signed Yam Madar through the end of the 2026/27 season. The announcement came after speculation that the Israel National Team’s starting point guard was set to be bought out from former club Bayern Munich by either the Reds or cross-town rivals, Maccabi Tel Aviv.

עיר נשימתה עוצרת pic.twitter.com/Vxd2zQZJ9B

— Hapoel Tel Aviv BC (@HapoelTLVBC) November 28, 2024

In what is seen as another step forward for Hapoel owner Ofer Yannay in building what many see as the best team in Israel, the announcement came the morning of new coach Dimitrios Itoudis’s first EuroCup game at the helm for the Reds against Ulm and only two days after announcing the signing of big man Marcus Bingham from Hapoel Holon.

Madar starred for the Israeli national team in its qualification for the EuroBasket in last week’s international window, winning MVP honors in both games against Ukraine to book averaging 22.5 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.5 steals, at an efficiency rating of 27, in 33 minutes.

Yam Madar – Photo credit: FIBA

While the Boston Celtics’ 2020 second round draft pick was a stand-out for Israel, he has struggled to find his place with Bayern this season. Readers may recall that Madar left Hapoel in 2021 for Serbia, where he joined EuroCup team Partizan Belgrade. After their promotion to the EuroLeague, Madar played in 38 games for the season, starting 24 and averaging 5.8 points and 1.6 assists in 13 and half minutes – numbers which increased to 6.6 points and 2.4 assists in 16 minutes in the 5-game quarter-final series against eventual champion Real Madrid.

Madar’s move to Fenerbahçe with then-head coach Itoudis and assistant coach Stefanos Dedas brought the hope of more minutes in a system that would work for him. However, when Itoudis was replaced by Šarūnas Jasikevičius in December last year, overall his minutes and opportunities slowly decreased. This resulted in a move to Bayern over the summer, however he was not about to find his place with the team, coming off the bench in five games for an average of 4.2 points and 1.6 assists in a little under 12 minutes.

With his dwindling opportunities in Munich, there were rumors of both Tel Aviv teams speaking with Madar’s management to try to arrange for a buy-out with Bayern. Ultimately, the Reds won the cross-town battle for Madar’s signature, with the Israeli star set to reunite with both his former club and his former coaches from his time in Turkey.

Bayern announced the move on its social media page on Thursday morning: “Roster update: Yam Madar leaves us, joins a new team in his home country Israel. All the best for your future, Yam!”

“No one is happier than me that I’m returning home, to the place where I played in my youth,” Madar said. “Thank you to club owner Ofer Yannay for his great efforts in this move, I really appreciate it. I’m excited and I’m eager to meet with my new teammates and of course to reunite with the Red fans, who supported and pushed me when I played overseas. We will see each other very soon, Yalla Hapoel!”

“First I want to thank the owner, Ofer Yannay, for all of his efforts,” Itoudis said. He has done everything to make Hapoel a better team and to upgrade in both the Israeli league and in Europe. I’m happy to reunite with Yam after we were together at Fenerbahçe. In his last two games with the Israeli national team, Yam proved that he has the ability to be an important part of the team that wants its guards to create and control the game. He is a young player who really respects basketball and works a lot on the court. I believe that now the only thing that remains is to instill more work, sacrifice, concentration and motivation.”

Yam Madar – Photo Credit: Euroleague

“We are very happy to announce Yam’s return home,” team general manager George Hinas said. “We share the same expectations and we are sure that Yam will bring his passion and energy to the team at a high level like us. Yalla Hapoel! Yalla Yam Madar!”

Hapoel’s official announcement did not include a statement from Yannay, however as we have become accustomed to, Yannay shared his thoughts on Twitter on Thursday morning: “Boom Boom. 😊❤️🙏🏻”

Later on Thursday afternoon, Yannay elaborated with reference to the online hostilities between the Red and Yellow Blue fans, particularly after two days ago he shared a link to Arik Einstein’s song, Od Nipagesh (“We will meet again”) – a clue to the impending signing of Madar. Einstein, who passed away 11 years ago this week, was an avid Hapoel fan and played for the Reds in the 1950s.

“Thank you to everyone for the blessings, it’s very exciting. Sorry to the Maccabi feed for the stings – humor is healthy. The same goes for the trolling, take it in good stride in a week on which we mark the English Yahrzeit [anniversary of death] of Arik and the return of the prodigal son, there is one prophetic song… that needs to be shared. P.S. We still have one more book, which I hope we can share today.”

The end of that last Tweet will send shivers down the spines of Maccabi and its fans. While the Yellow & Blue will be focusing on winning tonight in EuroLeague action against fellow cellar-dweller ALBA Berlin, the fans, both in Tel Aviv and around Israel, will be wondering, “Hapoel has improved and again increased the gap by signing Yam Madar – what is Ofer Yannay going to do next?”

What is certain is that it is great for Israeli basketball to see one of its stars return to Israel and it will be exciting to see Madar hopefully get extra the opportunities he’s looking for – this won’t only be of value to Hapoel, but for the national team as well.