Shimon Mizrahi

Shimon Mizrahi (born in 1940) is the chairman of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club.

After the club had economic problems in 1969, Mizrahi was appointed as Maccabi's chairman. Mizrahi devised many plans to pull Maccabi out of bankruptcy, such as selling tickets for Maccabi games. Before that, attending the games had been free. Mizrahi realized that in order to secure Maccabi's dominance in the Israeli league, it would have to sign American players. From 1969 until today, with the exception of the 1992/93 season, Maccabi has won the Israeli championship each year. Maccabi has also won five European cup titles (1977, 1981, 2001, 2004, 2005).

Mizrahi was accused by his rivals of failing to make the Israeli league more competitive with plans such as payment limits. However, Mizrahi agreed to several laws which were meant to weaken Maccabi, such as the Brisker Rule, which limits the number of foreign players every team can sign, the Final Four playoff system instead of a best-of-5 playoff system, and more.

Mizrahi holds a law degree allowing him to practice in Israel, specifically for cases involving traffic violations. He leads the B. Arnon - S. Mizrahi firm. In 2006 he defended the prominent attorney Dori Klagsberg in a high profile case following the death of two passengers killed by Klagsberg's vehicle.He also serves in the Israeli Military Police in the reserve, and holds the rank of colonel.