| Competition: | Liga Leumit |
| Season: | 1996–97 |
| Winners: | Beitar Jerusalem 3rd title |
| Relegated: | Hapoel Tayibe Tzafririm Holon |
| League Topscorer: | Motti Kakoun (20) |
| Prevseason: | 1995–96 |
| Nextseason: | 1997–98 |
The 1996–97 Liga Leumit season saw Beitar Jerusalem win their third title. Hapoel Tayibe (the first Arab club to play in the top flight since the establishment of Israel) and Tzafririm Holon were relegated to Liga Artzit. Motti Kakoun of Hapoel Petah Tikva was the league's top scorer with 20 goals.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Moti Kakoun | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 20 |
| 2 | Alon Mizrahi | Bnei Yehuda | 18 |
| 3 | Ofer Shitrit | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 15 |
| 4 | Eli Ohana | Beitar Jerusalem | 14 |
| Itzik Zohar | Beitar Jerusalem | 14 | |
| 6 | Hezi Shirazi | Maccabi Haifa | 13 |
| 7 | Avi Nimni | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 12 |
| Yaniv Ofri | Hapoel Petah Tikva | 12 | |
| 9 | Shay Holtzman | Hapoel Beer Sheva | 11 |
| 10 | Yaniv Abargil | Hapoel Kfar Saba | 10 |
 István Sallói | Beitar Jerusalem | 10 |
