Maccabi Tel Aviv Ownership Dispute: Richard Daetz Rejects Jason Levien's Role in Arbitration

American businessman and co-owner Richard Daetz has publicly stated that Jason Levien is not a party to the ongoing ownership dispute of Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club, calling the opposing stance "completely unreasonable." Daetz's legal team filed a new request with the Tel Aviv court on September 15, 2026, after Levien's involvement in the arbitration process was made conditional by Shimon Mizrahi and the Recanati family.

Daetz explained that Levien is not a signatory to the 2013 shareholders' agreement and has no contractual relationship with him, therefore Levien is not a party to the dispute. The arbitration process has been stalled for four days due to this disagreement, prompting Daetz to seek court guidance. He argued that Levien's inclusion was only relevant to a previous injunction request aimed at preventing a clandestine share transfer, a matter the court ruled should be treated as preliminary.

The Recanati family and Shimon Mizrahi responded by asserting that Levien is a shareholder and was included by Daetz himself in a previous legal filing. They questioned Daetz's logic in including Levien when suing but then claiming he is irrelevant for arbitration, accusing him of playing games with participant identities. They stated that anyone seeking to advance arbitration should stop manipulating who is involved based on convenience.

Daetz countered that the Recanati family and Mizrahi are either unaware of court documents or deliberately obscuring the truth. He reiterated that the injunction request involved Levien to block an unauthorized share transfer, which the court addressed by placing a caveat on the transfer. Daetz emphasized that this issue is separate from the arbitration, which concerns alleged breaches of the shareholders' agreement by the Recanati family and Mizrahi. He concluded that Levien cannot be a party to the arbitration as he did not sign the contract being interpreted and suggested their lawyers should advise them better.

The article notes that Levien was also included in a previous injunction filed by Daetz, which was dismissed by a district court judge. Levien is considered a shareholder after acquiring a percentage of shares from the Recanati family and Shimon Mizrahi that meets the ownership agreement's terms. The appointed arbitrator will ultimately decide who the parties are in the arbitration, after which the process can proceed.