“It is a big love story,” Haim said. “Everybody loves Alona.”

A Team and City Rise

Barkat’s office can be found not in Beersheba but in the center of Tel Aviv, 60 miles north. Barkat, 47, grew up in the coastal city of Ashkelon before moving to Silicon Valley in California with her husband. Later they returned to Israel, looking for a social project to invest in.

“I was one time in my life in Beersheba, even though I live in the south,” she said, explaining how in the past even she had bypassed the city, isolated as it is in the desert between Gaza, to the west, and the West Bank. She was introduced to the soccer club she would come to own by a friend, who explained how investing in the team would have ramifications far outside the game.

In many ways, the city and its team have risen together. Tech companies have moved in. The university has expanded, bringing young people in growing numbers. The economy is quietly booming. For all those reasons, Beersheba is now Israel’s fastest-growing city.

Half of the city’s population — 100,000 people — celebrated in the streets after Hapoel Beer Sheva clinched the title last season. “I’ve got goose bumps right now just remembering it,” Ellenbogen said.

That result has led to other great nights, including a victory against the Greek side Olympiakos and another against the Scottish champion Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers. While Hapoel Beer Sheva missed out on a place in the group stage by a single goal, it has thrived after dropping into the second-tier Europa League, beating Italy’s Inter Milan home and away and earning a tie against the Premier League club Southampton.