Hatem Abd Elhamed

Hatem Abd Elhamed
Born	(1991-03-18) March 18, 1991 Kafr Manda, Israel
Occupation	Professional footballer
Years active	2010–present
Known for	Defender for Bnei Sakhnin and Israel national team

Hatem Abd Elhamed (also spelled Elhamid, , ; born 18 March 1991) is a professional Israeli football player who operates as a defender for both Bnei Sakhnin and the Israel national squad.

Early life

Elhamed was born in Kafr Manda, Israel, into a Muslim-Arab household. Tragically, his younger sibling Muhammad passed away in a car accident in 2008.

Early career

Abd Elhamed started his football journey at age 16, spending two years in the youth ranks of Bnei Sakhnin before moving to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2009. After one season with their youth setup, he secured a professional contract for the 2010/11 season. His first professional appearance occurred on 8 August 2010 during a Toto Cup fixture against Bnei Sakhnin.

On 1 February 2011, he was loaned out to Belgian outfit Charleroi. Abd Elhamed made his league debut on 12 March 2011, coming off the bench against Standard Liège. Although Charleroi had an option to purchase him permanently, they chose not to activate it.

Ashdod

The subsequent season saw him transfer to F.C. Ashdod competing in Israel's First Division. Initially, he started eight matches and appeared as a substitute fifteen times. By the 2012–13 campaign, he had established himself as a regular, starting twenty games and coming off the bench twice. On 6 January 2013, at age 21, he netted his first professional goal during a 4–1 defeat to Maccabi Haifa. In the following season (2013/14), he was in the starting lineup for seventeen matches and made four substitute appearances.

During the summer of 2014, in his fourth year at Ashdod, Abd Elhamed featured in twelve of the first sixteen fixtures, starting seven times before being loaned to Romanian side Dinamo Bucharest. At Dinamo, he was selected for thirteen of the last seventeen games, primarily as a starter. On 24 April, he scored in a 1–1 draw versus Cluj. In May, he contributed additional goals and two assists. Despite his impact, Dinamo opted not to pay the €100,000 transfer fee, resulting in his return to Israel. In June 2015, he underwent a trial period with Belgian club Club Brugge.

In July 2015, Abd Elhamed signed with Belgian team K.A.A. Gent on a contract extending until mid-2019. On 15 July 2016, he was sent on loan back to F.C. Ashdod.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

August 2017 marked a pivotal moment as Abd Elhamed inked a five-year deal with Israeli powerhouse Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Celtic

On 24 July 2019, Scottish Premiership champions Celtic acquired Abd Elhamed from Hapoel Be’er Sheva on a four-year agreement. Celtic manager Neil Lennon disclosed in February 2021 that Abd Elhamed experienced homesickness due to COVID-19 restrictions preventing his family from joining him in Scotland.

Return to Be'er Sheva

In February 2021, Abd Elhamed rejoined Hapoel Be'er Sheva, resuming his tenure with the Israeli club.

International career

Abd Elhamed represented Israel at the Maccabiah Games in 2009. He earned his first cap for the Israel national team on 10 June 2019 during a Euro 2020 qualifying match against Poland, entering as an 82nd-minute substitute for Nir Bitton. In October 2020, while on international duty, he tested positive for COVID-19.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals categorized by club, season, and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Overall
		Division	Appearances	Goals	Appearances	Goals	Appearances	Goals	Appearances	Goals	Appearances	Goals
Maccabi Tel Aviv	2010–11	Liga Ha'Al	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Charleroi (loan)	2010–11	Pro League	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Ashdod	2011–12	Ligat Ha'Al	23	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	26	0
	2012–13		22	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	24	1
	2013–14		21	0	1	0				22	0
	2014–15		13	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	18	0
Ashdod Total			79	1	3	0	8	0	0	0	90	1
Dinamo București (loan)	2014–15	Liga I	13	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	15	3
Gent	2015–16	Pro League	1	0	1	0				2
F.C. Ashdod (loan)	2016–17 Israeli Premier League	Israeli Premier League	27	٠	٤	٠	٥	٠	٠	٠	٣٦	٠
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	2017–18 Israeli Premier League	Israeli Premier League	23	١	٤	٠	٥	١	٧	٠	٣٩	٢
	2018–19 Israeli Premier League		26	٣	١	٠	٠	٠	٠	٠	٢٧	٣
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Total			49	٤	٥	٠	٥	١	٧	٠	٦٦	٥
Celtic	2019–20 Celtic F.C. season	Scottish Premiership	5	٠	١	٠	٣	٠	٦	٠	١٥	٠
	2020–21 Celtic F.C. season	Scottish Premiership	8	٠	٠	٠	١	٠	٦	٠	١٥	٠
Celtic Total		13	٠	١	٠	٤	٠	١٢	٠	٣٠	٠
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	2020–21 Israeli Premier League	Israeli Premier League	9	۰	۱	=۰=	=۰=	=۰=	=۰=	=۱۰	=۰=
	2021–22 Israeli Premier League		30	=۰=	=۳=	=۰=	=۱=	=۲=	=۳۶	=۰=
	2022–23 Israeli Premier League		3	=۰=	=۱=	=۰=	=۴=	=۰=	=۸	=۰=
	2023–24 Israeli Premier League		2	=۰=	=۰=	=۰=	=۰=	=۳=	=۰=
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Total			44	=۰=	=۵=	=۰=	=۲=	=۶=	=۵۷=	=۰=
Hapoel Haifa	2022–23 Israeli Premier League	Israeli Premier League	22	=۱=	=۰=	=۰=	=۰=	=۰=	=۲۲ =!۱=!
	2023–24 Israeli Premier League		12	=۲=	=۱=	=۰=	=۰=	=۱۳ =!۲=!
Hapoel Haifa Total			34	=۳=	=۱= ::=۰== ::=۰== ::=০== ::=৩== ::=৩৫== ::=৩==
Ironi Tiberias	2024–25 Israeli Premier League	Israeli Premier League	=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=৮== |=০==
Ironi Tiberias Total			=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=৮== |=০==
Bnei Sakhnin	2024–25 Israeli Premier League	Israeli Premier League	=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০== |=০==
Bnei Sakhnin Total			０ ==０ ==０ ==０ ==０ ==０ ==０ ==０ ==０ ==
Career Total			261 ==8 ==20 ==० ==27 ==१ ==25 ==० ==322 ==७

Honours

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

• Premier League title (1): 2017–18 season
• State Cup victory (1): 2021–22
• Super Cup winner (1): 2022

Celtic

• Premiership championship (1): 2019–20