# 1997–98 Liga Leumit

The 1997–98 Liga Leumit season began on 2 August 1997 and ended on 9 May 1998, with Beitar Jerusalem win their second consecutive title.
That season had two rounds, each team played the other teams twice. The two teams that were relegated to Liga Artzit were: Hapoel Ashkelon and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
Two team from Liga Artzit were promoted at the end of the previous season: Hapoel Ashkelon and Maccabi Ironi Ashdod. The two teams relegated were: Hapoel Tayibe and Hapoel Tzafririm Holon.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Beitar Jerusalem (C) | 30 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 71 | 33 | +38 | 69 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 16 | +28 | 68 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Hapoel Haifa | 30 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 59 | 27 | +32 | 60 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round |
| 4 | Maccabi Haifa | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 49 | 34 | +15 | 52 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 5 | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 42 | |
| 6 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 39 | |
| 7 | Hapoel Kfar Saba | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 39 | 39 | 0 | 38 | |
| 8 | Maccabi Herzliya | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 37 | 40 | −3 | 36 | |
| 9 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 36 | |
| 10 | Ironi Rishon LeZion | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 42 | 52 | −10 | 36 | |
| 11 | Hapoel Jerusalem | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 34 | |
| 12 | Maccabi Ironi Ashdod | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 39 | 57 | −18 | 33 | |
| 13 | Hapoel Beit She'an | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 35 | 51 | −16 | 31 | |
| 14 | Bnei Yehuda | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 31 | |
| 15 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva (R) | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 30 | Relegation to Liga Artzit |
| 16 | Hapoel Ashkelon (R) | 30 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 26 | 50 | −24 | 19 | Relegation to Liga Artzit |
* ↑ Maccabi Haifa won the Israeli State Cup and was awarded with entry to the Cup Winner's Cup.
* ↑ Deducted 2 points.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BEI | BnY | HAS | HBS | BTS | HHA | HJE | HKS | HPT | HTA | IRZ | MHA | MHE | MIA | MPT | MTA |
| Beitar Jerusalem | — | 3–1 | 5–1 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Bnei Yehuda | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 2–0 |
| Hapoel Ashkelon | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 2–5 | 2–0 | 3–1 | — | 3–0 | 4–5 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Beit She'an | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Hapoel Haifa | 2–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 5–2 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Hapoel Jerusalem | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Kfar Saba | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Petah Tikva | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 6–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Ironi Rishon LeZion | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Maccabi Haifa | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–3 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Maccabi Herzliya | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Maccabi Ironi Ashdod | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–3 | 1–2 |
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–2 |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 7–1 | 0–1 | — |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Alon Mizrahi | Maccabi Haifa | 18 |
| 2 | Ofer Shitrit | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 17 |
| 3 | István Sallói | Beitar Jerusalem | 16 |
| 4 | Yossi Benayoun | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 15 |
| 4 | István Pisont | Beitar Jerusalem | 15 |
| 6 | Eli Driks | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 14 |
| 7 | Assi Tubi | Hapoel Jerusalem | 13 |
| 8 | Motti Kakoun | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 12 |
| 8 | Nir Sevilia | Beitar Jerusalem | 12 |
| 10 | Liron Basis | Hapoel Haifa | 11 |