Ali El-Khatib

El-Khatib grew up in the Arab city of Shefa-'Amr in Northern Israel where he played for local side, Hapoel Shefa-'Amr.[1]

He was brought to Palestinian club Jabal Al-Mukaber in by the coach, Samir Issa, in 2012. While playing for them, a controversy erupted over El-Khatib's contract.

Hapoel Haifa had given him a trial after someone had informed the coach of El-Khatib's talents. He was then chosen to join the club after 5 or 10 minutes of his try-out.

However, the signing caused an outrage with his previous club, who alleged that he had three-and-a-half years left on his contract, resulting in them taking the case to FIFA after a Tel Aviv District Court denied their appeal. El-Khatib denied that he signed a contract with the club, claiming that they had forged his signature on the contract. The president of Jabal Al-Mukaber compared Hapoel's action to that of a horse thief under the pretence that they stole a player who was under contract.[2]

As one of a growing number of Arab-Israelis playing professionally in the WBPL and representing Palestine internationally .[4] He stated his dream is to play for Israel, and also said "It would be wonderful if one day the Palestinian national team could play against the Israeli national team. Then I would play the first half of the game with one team and the second half with the other team."[2]

He received his first national team cap against Thailand in 2014 World Cup qualifying on July 23, 2011. He scored his first senior team goal in a friendly match against Bahrain, the 67th-minute goal proved to be the winner as the game ended 1–0. 11 days later, he scored his second goal in a crucial match against Sudan which secured Palestine passage to the 2011 Pan Arab Games semifinal.

• West Bank Premier League
  • Winner (1): 2009–10
  • Runner-up (1): 2010–11

• Ali El-Khatib – Israel Football Association league player details