| Competition: | Israeli Premier League |
| Season: | 2012–13 |
| Dates: | 25 August 2012 – 20 May 2013 |
| Winners: | Maccabi Tel Aviv 2nd Premier League title 19th Israeli title overall |
| Relegated: | Maccabi Netanya Hapoel Ramat Gan |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Maccabi Tel Aviv (Second qualifying round) |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Hapoel Ramat Gan (Third qualifying round) Maccabi Haifa (Second qualifying round) Hapoel Tel Aviv (Second qualifying round) |
| League Topscorer: | Eliran Atar (22 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Maccabi Haifa 6–0 Ironi Ramat HaSharon |
| Biggest Away Win: | Bnei Sakhnin 0–4 Ironi Ramat HaSharon |
| Highest Scoring: | Maccabi Tel Aviv 6–2 Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Acre 4–4 Maccabi Netanya Maccabi Netanya 3–5 Bnei Yehuda |
| Matches: | 240 |
| Total Goals: | 608 |
| Longest Wins: | 8 games Maccabi Tel Aviv[1] |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 16 games Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| Longest Winless: | 16 games Hapoel Acre[2] |
| Longest Losses: | 6 games Hapoel Acre |
| Highest Attendance: | 33,000 – Ironi Ramat HaSharon 0–2 Maccabi Tel Aviv (22 April 2013)[3] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 150 Ironi Ramat HaSharon 3–1 Hapoel Acre[4] |
| Average Attendance: | 4,916[5] |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
The 2012–13 Israeli Premier League was the fourteenth season since its introduction in 1999 and the 71st season of top-tier football in Israel. It began on 25 August 2012 and ended on 20 May 2013. Ironi Kiryat Shmona were the defending champions, having won their first Premier League title last season.
Maccabi Tel Aviv secured the title with a 2–0 win against Ironi Ramat HaSharon on 22 April 2012. This was their 19th Israeli league title, this win gave Maccabi Tel Aviv a 13-point advantage over the second-place team Maccabi Haifa with four more rounds to go.
There were three structural changes:[6]
A total of fourteen teams competed in the league, including thirteen sides from the 2011–12 season and one promoted team from the 2011–12 Liga Leumit.
Hapoel Petah Tikva, Hapoel Rishon LeZion, and Maccabi Petah Tikva were relegated to the 2012–13 Liga Leumit after finishing the 2011–12 season in the bottom three places.Maccabi Petah Tikva were relegated after 21 straight seasons, Hapoel Petah Tikva after four years consecutively and Hapoel Rishon LeZion after just one year on the top division.
Hapoel Ramat Gan were promoted to the 2012–13 Israeli Premier League after beating Hapoel Bnei Lod in the 2011–12 Liga Leumit promotion playoff. They last played in the top division in the 2010–11 Season.
| Team | President | Manager | Captain | Kitmaker | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beitar Jerusalem |  |  (b. 1951) | | Diadora | Eldan | |
| Bnei Sakhnin | | | | Lotto | Bank Leumi | |
| Bnei Yehuda | | | | Puma | ||
| F.C. Ashdod | | | | Nike | Sektor Town | |
| Hapoel Acre | | | | Nike | Shahaf Security | |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | | | | Kappa | Mobli, Dell | |
| Hapoel Haifa | | | | Diadora | Hatama Security | |
| Hapoel Ramat Gan | | (b. 1961) | | Puma | Avi Sofer | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | | | | Kappa | Bonnie Hatichon, Shlomo Sixt | |
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | | | | Lotto | Ituran | |
| Ironi Ramat HaSharon | | | | Lotto | — | |
| Maccabi Haifa | | | | Nike | Honda, Herbalife | |
| Maccabi Netanya | | | | Diadora | Burgus Burger Bar | |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv |  |  | | Under Armour | Nivea |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Final position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hapoel Acre | Eli Cohen (b. 1961) | End of contract | 13 May 2012[7] | 10th (11–12) | Shimon Edri | 28 May 2012[8] | 14th | |
| Hapoel Haifa | Tal Banin | End of contract | 13 May 2012[9] | 12th (11–12) | Nir Klinger | 23 May 2012[10] | 9th | |
| Maccabi Netanya | Reuven Atar | End of contract | 13 May 2012 | 4th (11–12) | Tal Banin | 13 May 2012[11] | 12th | |
| Bnei Yehuda | Yossi Abukasis | End of contract | 13 May 2012[12] | 3rd (11–12) | Dror Kashtan | 13 May 2012 | 5th | |
| Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Ran Ben Shimon | End of contract | 13 May 2012[13] | 1st (11–12) | Gili Landau | 13 May 2012 | 7th | |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | Nir Levine | End of contract | 13 May 2012 | 6th (11–12) | Óscar García | 22 May 2012[14] | 1st | |
| Ironi Ramat HaSharon | Yehoshua Feigenbaum | End of contract | 13 May 2012 | 11th (11–12) | Nissan Yehezkel | 14 May 2012[15] | 6th | |
| Hapoel Be'er Sheva | Guy Levy | End of contract | 13 May 2012 | 13th (11–12) | Elisha Levy | 16 May 2012[16] | 10th | |
| Maccabi Haifa | Elisha Levy | End of contract | 16 May 2012[17] | 5th (11–12) | Reuven Atar | 16 May 2012 | 13th | |
| Ironi Ramat HaSharon | Nissan Yehezkel | Sacked | 2 September 2012[18] | 6th | Beni Tabak (joint manager) Meni Koretski (joint manager) | 4 September 2012[19] | 5th | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Nitzan Shirazi | Stepped down for health reasons | 27 September 2012[20] | 3rd | Yossi Abukasis | 27 September 2012 | 3rd | |
| Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona | Gili Landau | Sacked | 3 October 2012[21] | 7th | Barak Bakhar (caretaker) | 3 October 2012 | 4th | |
| Maccabi Haifa | Reuven Atar | Sacked | 13 November 2012[22] | 13th | Arik Benado | 17 November 2012[23] | 2nd | |
| Hapoel Ramat Gan | Freddy David | Sacked | 28 November 2012[24] | 13th | Eli Cohen (b. 1961) | 28 November 2012 | 12th | |
| Ironi Ramat HaSharon | Meni Koretski (joint manager) | Resigned | 12 January 2013[25] | 5th | Benny Tabak (sole manager) | 12 January 2013 | 6th | |
| Hapoel Acre | Shimon Edri | Sacked | 31 January 2013[26] | 14th | Yuval Naim | 31 January 2013 | 11th | |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | Yossi Abukasis | Sacked | 16 February 2013[27] | 3rd | Freddy David | 18 February 2013[28] | 3rd | |
| Bnei Sakhnin | Shlomi Dora | Sacked | 10 March 2013[29] | 12th | Marco Balbul | 11 March 2013[30] | 13th | |
| Maccabi Netanya | Tal Banin | Sacked | 18 March 2013[31] | 12th | Reuven Atar | 19 March 2013[32] | 14th |
Arik Benado was acted as caretaker manager for eight days until his appointment as manager on 25 November 2012.[33]
Key numbers for pairing determination (number marks position after 26 games):[34]
| Rounds | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | 32nd | 33rd | 34th | 35th | 36th | |
| 1–6 2–5 3–4 | 1–2 5–3 6–4 | 2–6 3–1 4–5 | 1–4 2–3 6–5 | 3–6 4–2 5–1 | 6–1 5–2 4–3 | 2–1 3–5 4–6 | 6–2 1–3 5–4 | 3–2 4–1 5–6 | 6–3 2–4 1–5 | |
| 7–14 8–13 9–12 10–11 | 7–8 13–9 12–10 14–11 | 8–14 9–7 10–13 11–12 | 8–9 7–10 13–11 14–12 | 9–14 10–8 11–7 12–13 | 9–10 8–11 7–12 14–13 | 10–14 11–9 12–8 13–7 | ||||
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eliran Atar | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 22 | |
| 2 | Shimon Abuhatzira | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 15 | |
| 3 | Ohad Kadousi | Hapoel Acre | 14 | |
| 4 | Omer Damari | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 13 | |
| 5 | Weaam Amasha | Maccabi Haifa | 11 | |
| Avi Reikan | Beitar Jerusalem | 11 | ||
 Pedro Galván | Bnei Yehuda | 11 | ||
| 8 | David Manga | Hapoel Ramat Gan | 10 | |
| Toto Tamuz | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 10 | ||
| Dovev Gabay | Hapoel Be'er Sheva | 10 | ||
| Mu'nas Dabbur | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 10 | ||
| Achmad Saba'a | Maccabi Netanya | 10 | ||
| Total | 680 | |||
| Average per game | ||||
Source: Israel Football Association
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 3–1[35] | ||||
| | 5–1[36] | ||||
| | 4–1[37] | ||||
| 3–0[38] | |||||
| | 5–3[39] | ||||
| 4 | 6–0[40] | ||||
| 4 | 4–1[41] |
Murad Abu Anza for F.C. Ashdod against Ironi Ramat HaSharon, 8th minute (25 August 2012)[42] Shimon Abuhatzira for Ironi Kiryat Shmona against Hapoel Tel Aviv (20 April 2013)
Bojan Marković for Hapoel Be'er Sheva against Bnei Sakhnin, 9th minute (25 August 2012)[45] Kobi Moyal (Beitar Jerusalem)[46] Dia Saba for Hapoel Be'er Sheva against Bnei Sakhnin, 89th minute (25 August 2012) Mohammed Zbidat (Bnei Sakhnin) Elad Gabai (Ironi Kiryat Shmona)
