The right-wing team from Jerusalem, Beitar Jerusalem, are surging toward the championship and sitting proudly at the top of the Israeli Premier League table, in what is rapidly becoming a season few would have dared to predict. What began with modest expectations has evolved into a potentially historic campaign. Week after week, Beitar Jerusalem simply keep winning, and for many supporters, the image of players lifting the league trophy at the end of the season no longer feels like fantasy, but an approaching reality. If completed, it would mark the club’s first league title since 2008.
Which chant against Beitar Jerusalem did Cedric Don lead?
On the other side of the city, the moderate team from Jerusalem, Hapoel Jerusalem, are marking their 100th anniversary. Yet instead of a celebratory season worthy of the milestone, the campaign has turned into a difficult survival battle, overshadowed by the dominance of their city rivals. As Beitar Jerusalem charge toward the title, Hapoel Jerusalem find themselves fighting to avoid relegation, raising an uncomfortable question: will Beitar’s relentless run end with a mythic championship, while Hapoel’s centenary year is remembered for a painful drop?
That tension sharpened further last Saturday, when Hapoel Jerusalem lost their standout player, Cedric Don, who completed a transfer to Maccabi Haifa. Don bid farewell to Hapoel’s supporters in a moment that immediately drew attention across Jerusalem. As he addressed the crowd, he led a chant that resonated far beyond the stadium and is certain to provoke reaction on the other side of the rivalry: “Whoever jumps hates Beitar.”
In a season already defined by sharp contrasts and rising emotions, the chant felt less like a farewell and more like another chapter in Jerusalem’s deeply divided football story.
A spokesperson for Hapoel Jerusalem barred the publication of the segment on this site. Is the club concerned about the scene?
