Normally, ice hockey leagues start in the fall, as the weather gets colder and the sweaters the players put on every night become necessary. Normally, hockey is a Canadian, American, and Northern European sport, unbeknown to Asia and the Middle East. Hockey players usually use their summers to train for the upcoming professional season. 

But this is Israel, and Israel is anything but ordinary. 

The IEHL is one of the world's most exciting summer hockey leagues. Players from around the world, including top professional leagues such as the KHL, AHL, and ECHL, come to play summer hockey in Israel. They're here not just because they love this sport, but because they love this country.

This league is special. The players chose to spend their summer growing hockey in the desert It's the same attitude this country's founding fathers had over 70 years ago. They left the four corners of the world to a land that had nothing, and they made the desert bloom and built a thriving society. 

Speak to one of the league’s commissioners and they’ll tell you how much they believe in this vision. last year was an incredible success, with HC Tel Aviv taking home the championship on a sheet of ice that was barely suitable for four on four. Now, we’re in OneIce Arena, a brand new, NHL-sized facility in the heart of Israel. Hockey is on the upswing here, driven both by Americans & Canadian immigrants and Israelis who stumbled on this crazy game. 

Welcome to the Israel Elite Hockey League.

We are the first and only professional-level ice hockey league in Israel. The league is a short-season summer league with a purpose that goes beyond simply hockey.

We have three major goals.

-To bring a diverse group of Jewish hockey players from all over the world, to come and experience the beautiful country of Israel.

-To bring a diverse group of non-Jewish hockey players from all over the world, to come and experience the beautiful country of Israel. 

-To use the league’s operations as a vehicle to promote goodwill towards the State of Israel, and to fight the Palestinian efforts to delegitimize and harm Israel through the Palestinian Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions movement.

Why should you want to help?

Our league allows high-level hockey players to develop their skills, extend their careers, and stay in shape during their individual club off-seasons in a fun and competitive league. The players include the top domestic Israeli hockey players as well as professionals and semi-professionals from around the world. Israeli players benefit from practicing with and playing with and against top competition from around the world. This helps all of the players improve, grow and improve the sport in Israel, and builds connections between Israeli and international athletes. 

We bring the players on tours around various points of interest in Israel. For the Jewish players, this helps connect them to their Jewish heritage, faith, culture, history, and people. It motivates Jewish players – who might not otherwise do so – to come to Israel and connect to their Judaism through hockey. The players visit places like the Kotel, Masada, King David’s tomb, the Knesset, Jaffa, the Dead Sea, and the Golan. It’s a profound spiritual experience for players of all faiths and backgrounds.

We started our process last summer (2021) with our inaugural season, in which we heavily exceeded our expectations on the hockey side and helped change the lives of the 12 young athletes who came to Israel for the first time. During our current 2022 season, we were able to bring over 30 elite Jewish and over 10 non-Jewish hockey players to compete in the IEHL to play alongside the top Israelis. The games were all close, competitive, and intense. Most importantly, the players felt they were a part of something greater than themselves: being hockey ambassadors in a country where the sport is still in its infancy. Every time the players went on a trip anywhere in Israel, people were amazed to see foreign hockey players spending their summer playing here. Aiming for our third season, we plan to bring over 60 athletes to join us and help the hockey community continue to flourish in Israel.

We seek to expand the league to an even higher level of operation and recruit more players for the 2023 season. We are opening the IEHL up to crowdfunding in order to bring over as many international players as we can. 

Additionally, the IEHL is looking to crowdfund a club team that will compete in Europe during the winter season. This team will recruit the best Jewish players and bring them to live and play in Israel during the season. The team will compete in a league in a top European hockey country while being based in Israel. This will help continue to bring Israeli hockey up in the IIHF rankings and help continue to grow the game in Israel. This team will allow players to get an Israeli passport and potentially play for the Israeli national team. Both the IEHL and this team will be an integral part of the growth of hockey in Israel. 

We are always open to chatting with supporters, feel free to reach out anytime!

Obviously, these operations cost money.  We are not a profit-making institution and depend on donors and sponsors who share our vision.

Any amount donated helps. For every donation above $30, we will mail out IEHL merchandise to you for your contribution.

Thank you for your support.