Abstract des Autors

This Historical study will examine the rise of a Hegemonic group of Sports officials in Israel in the period between 1948 -1996. The formation of this group is a unique phenomenon of the Israeli sport society. The main argument of the study is that officials of rival Sport Centers, 'Hapoel' and 'Maccabi', founded a joint Elite group as a side effect of the "fifty-fifty" agreement, signed in 1951. The agreement stated that the Sport Federation, the Olympic Committee and the Football Association would be mutually led by officials of both organizations. The members of this elite group, that enjoyed the access to economic resources and other benefits, adopted an hedonistic lifestyle. Bourgeois lifestyle was in contrast to the social ethos of the Israeli society in the first and second decades of the State. Three events dismantled the group in the middle of the 90s'. The first one was the establishment of the elite sport department in 1984. The second was Establishment of Independent Associations by Yadin Machnes . The third was Maliniak Commission Report. The three events led to the collapse of the Sport Federation in 1996 and to the fall of hegemonic group.