JERUSALEM (Basketball Super League) - What began as an exciting and thrilling night for Israeli basketball fans in Jerusalem on Sunday ended with the moment that basketball in the holy land changed forever.

The main attraction of the third week in the Israeli Basketball Super League featured the game between Hapoel Jerusalem and visiting Hapoel Holon.

The team from the capital city is known throughout the continent as the second best team coming from Israel and they have been the arch rivals of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the past decade.

Holon are the league newcomers, but for many decades they were a big force in the top.

Financial problems pushed the team all the way to the third division, but when Miki Dorsman – a local who is tremendously wealthy and a long time fan, took over, they slowly climbed back to the top.

During the climb, Dorsman appointed himself as the head coach, and he managed to survive the tough National League fights to get the team back to the top division – where it belongs.

With a long tradition, a wide, very colorful and noisy fan base, Holon's place should have been nowhere but the top league, and Dorsman made sure it would be an impressive comeback.

This summer, Holon landed several big names, and built a deep and versatile roster that no team has built in the league other than Maccabi, to challenge Hapoel's status.

The latest signing was Tanoka Beard, a big name who made the grade in the Spanish league, and in the Euroleague with Zalgiris Kaunas. Beard joined the team only on Sunday morning – the day of the game – and even played part in the game.

Going into the game, everyone knew it would have a hot atmosphere. Holon fans weren't satisfied with the standing room only tickets the local Hapoel sold to them.

Their desire to show their team is the number one challenger and their well-known, collective hot temper promised that this game wouldn’t go easy.

For 38 minutes and 36 seconds, the fans enjoyed a great atmosphere and a high level game. Holon led for three quarters but the locals showed great intensity and took a 94-89 lead. Then things changed.

A flashlight was thrown onto the court from the stands. One of the security people picked up the device, which was disguised in rolled paper, in attempt to protect the players.

When he passed by Holon's bench the device blew up in his hands. He collapsed on the spot, while both teams rushed quickly inside the locker rooms.

Medical staff tried to stabilize his condition, but the man's right hand was in bad shape.

His cry for help couldn't be missed in the shocked silence that filled the air.

He had lost three of his fingers, and was rushed to the hospital.

"I was sure it was a paper, so I picked it up," the security man said from his hospital bed, before entering the operation room.

After a nine-hour operation, the doctors managed to reattach one of finger.

The game was obviously stopped.

On Monday in the Super League, Ironi Ramat Gan’s clash with Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv was postponed, as well as the weekly games in the Women's league.

The police investigation began right away and all of the Holon fans were stopped for questioning after the game, although nobody knows for sure if one of them threw the device.

"We knew to expect a hot tempered game, but this entire game and what we do here isn't worth a thing if a security person will lose a single hair," said Danny Klein, chairman of Hapoel Jerusalem.

"We won't continue to play in the league until the person who threw the flashlight is found. As far as I'm concerned, if it's one of our fans, I will leave the club and I don't mind if the team folds as a result."

On the other side of the fence, the sounds were pretty much the same.

"This could have cost someone's life,” said Dorsman. “I will leave basketball and the team unless in three days the federation, the league and the police form an investigating committee to solve this case.

"I feel like someone stabbed me in the heart. You want to murder people? Not in my place. We must stop this before someone dies."

The League's board met during the day to decide on the next steps in a bid to make sure Israeli basketball return to sanity and safety.

Yarone Arbel, Tel Aviv
FIBA