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

American businessman and co-owner Richard Daetz has issued a new statement regarding the ongoing control struggle for the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club, specifically addressing the arbitration process. Daetz's legal team filed a new request with the Tel Aviv court after Oudi Recanati and Shimon Mizrahi conditioned their agreement to appoint an arbitrator on Jason Levien also being a party to the arbitration.

Daetz argued that Recanati and Mizrahi's stance is illogical, as Levien is not a signatory to the 2013 shareholders' agreement and Daetz has no contractual relationship with him. He emphasized that Levien is not a party to this dispute, and the arbitration process has been delayed for four days due to this issue.

In response, the Recanati family and Shimon Mizrahi stated that Levien is a shareholder and Daetz himself included him in a previous legal filing. They asserted that demanding his participation in the arbitration is logical and accused Daetz of playing games with the identities of participants for his convenience.

Daetz countered by suggesting Recanati and Mizrahi are either unaware of the court documents or deliberately obscuring the truth. He clarified that Levien was included in a previous injunction request because it aimed to prevent a clandestine share transfer to him by the Recanati family. The court ruled that this share transfer should be considered provisional, separate from the arbitration which concerns alleged breaches of the shareholders' agreement by Recanati and Mizrahi. Daetz reiterated that Levien is not a party to the arbitration as he did not sign the contract being interpreted.

The article notes that Levien was also included in a previous injunction filed by Daetz, which was dismissed by a district court judge. The arbitrator appointed for the arbitration will ultimately decide on the parties involved, allowing the process to move forward.