{"id":162417,"date":"2026-06-16T08:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/162417\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T08:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:53:13","slug":"why-thousands-of-jewish-athletes-are-heading-to-israel-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/162417\/","title":{"rendered":"Why thousands of Jewish athletes are heading to Israel this summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

For athletes, the postponement disrupted years of preparation. For organizers, it raised larger questions: whether delegations would still come, whether countries would approve travel, and whether an international Jewish sporting event could still take place in Israel during wartime.<\/p>\n

Yet this summer, the games are expected to return.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve decided that we need it,\u201d Roy Hessing, CEO of the Maccabiah and Maccabi World Union<\/a>, told The Jerusalem Report in a recent interview. \u201cIsraelis, the Jewish communities around the world need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Maccabiah began with the vision of Yosef Yekutieli<\/a>, a Belarus-born immigrant who was inspired by the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Yekutieli, an athlete, became determined to create an international sporting competition for Jewish athletes. Years of war, political resistance, and failed appeals to international sporting bodies delayed the idea, but the first games were eventually held in Tel Aviv in 1932, drawing Jewish athletes from across Europe and the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that it will be exactly the answer for the growing antisemitism around the world,\u201d Hessing said about this year\u2019s upcoming games.<\/p>\n

More than medals<\/p>\n

For Joel Solomon, a 21-year-old runner from Sydney who is now studying in New York at Wagner College, the decision to compete in the Maccabiah was tied as much to identity as athletics.<\/p>\n

Solomon grew up outside Australia\u2019s major Jewish communities and said he never felt especially connected to Judaism while growing up. That changed after moving to New York to attend university and the Bondi attack in December last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to be proud of where I come from and connect more with my identity,\u201d he told the Report. Since he was 14, he has been competing in track and field and cross-country running events.<\/p>\n

This summer will be both his first Maccabiah Games and his first trip to Israel.<\/p>\n

\"JoelJoel Solomon, 21, has been competing in track and field and cross-country running since he was 14 years old. (credit: Matt Rottenecker\/Wagner Athletics)<\/p>\n

The games are one of the world\u2019s largest Jewish gatherings. According to organizers, more than 10,000 athletes from over 80 countries typically compete across dozens of sports.<\/p>\n

David Wiseman, founder and co-creator of Follow Team Israel<\/a> \u2013 a popular social media initiative created in 2012 to share positive stories of Israeli and Jewish athletes globally \u2013 believes the sport is secondary to what the games create off the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen these people come to an environment where everyone is both Jewish and plays the same sport they do, it\u2019s this incredible sense of unity and identity,\u201d he told the Report. \u201cThe sport is the vehicle\u2026 for bringing all these people to come to Israel from all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this year\u2019s tournament comes under very different circumstances.<\/p>\n

Hessing described the event as likely to become the largest international gathering in Israel since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on October 7, 2023. Delegations from several countries have faced travel restrictions or security concerns, particularly for junior athletes. Organizers say participation numbers will likely be lower than in previous years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do understand that it\u2019s not going to be the biggest Maccabiah,\u201d Hessing said.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s games, scheduled for July 2 through July 12 under the slogan \u201cMore Than Ever,\u201d are expected to bring more than 8,000 athletes from roughly 44 countries to compete across 45 sports.<\/p>\n

Some delegations have already withdrawn junior athletes over security concerns. Maccabi South Africa\u2019s chairperson, Clifford Garrun, recently told the South African Jewish Report that \u201cthe prospect was reducing and the risks just increasing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have had a junior group there facing rockets, bomb shelters, and uncertainty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"RoyRoy Hessing has led the Maccabiah Games since 2017, and in December 2025, was appointed CEO of the Maccabi World Union. (credit: ALONI MOR)<\/p>\n

While registration remains open, final participation numbers are subject to change, but Hessing said he remains confident the games will still draw a strong international turnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaccabi World Union\u2019s role is to make the right connection between the Jewish Diaspora and the State of Israel via sport and educational programs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The games, he said, often become a gateway to Israel for young Jews abroad. \u201cAround 5% of them are really staying in Israel and making aliyah,\u201d Hessing said.<\/p>\n

Waiting for July<\/p>\n

For athletes, however, the past year has also been marked by uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Solomon said he had been training continuously since last August while balancing collegiate competition in the United States. But as the games approached, there were concerns that Australia\u2019s track delegation might not travel at all because of security warnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s the case, I\u2019d either go individually\u2026 or maybe on [team] USA,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m going there either way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The uncertainty is difficult for athletes competing in an event held only once every four years.<\/p>\n

Yet Solomon said the games feel different now than they might have a few years ago. \u201cSince December\u2026 I feel very connected to my Judaism, like the most it\u2019s ever been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Hessing, those personal stories are central to what the Maccabiah represents. \u201cSport is the bridge to bring them to Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The challenge this year has been convincing people to cross it.<\/p>\n

Organizing the event during an ongoing regional conflict has created financial and logistical strain. Hessing said fluctuating participation numbers and travel advisories have dramatically affected planning and budgets.<\/p>\n

Still, organizers pushed ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership of Maccabi World Union worldwide decided to hold the games, no matter what,\u201d Hessing said.<\/p>\n

\"MaccabiahMaccabiah Games 1957. (credit: Maccabiah Archives World Movement)A history interrupted<\/p>\n

The Maccabiah has been shaped by disruption before. After the second games in the 1930s, the tournament disappeared entirely between 1936 and 1949 as World War II and the Holocaust devastated Jewish communities across Europe.<\/p>\n

More than six decades later, tragedy struck again.<\/p>\n

During the opening ceremony of the 1997 Maccabiah in Tel Aviv, a temporary bridge over the Yarkon River collapsed, killing four Australian athletes and injuring dozens more.<\/p>\n

Margot Mann, a Sydney-born masters swimmer, was standing near the center of the bridge when it gave way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all very excited\u2026 with all our new uniforms, the cute hats,\u201d Mann recalled. Moments later, she said, \u201cthere was this unreal feeling like I\u2019m floating down in slow motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mann escaped largely uninjured and helped account for missing members of the Australian delegation. In the days that followed, athletes debated whether the games should continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was decided that we would honor the memory of those four by continuing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The atmosphere afterward, she said, changed completely. \u201cWe were all dulled,\u201d Mann recalled. \u201cThere was a softening of the excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe bridge\u2019s collapse at the opening ceremony of the 15th Maccabiah Games took the lives of four members of the Australian team and left 60 others injured. (credit: REUTERS)<\/p>\n

Still, she remembers the solidarity that emerged in the aftermath. \u201cThere was such a sense of shame and apology,\u201d she said of the Israeli public response after the collapse. \u201cWe felt really supported and cushioned by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly three decades later, Mann believes this summer\u2019s games may carry a similar emotional weight. \u201cI think this time the Maccabiah is likely to produce the same sense of closeness and caring,\u201d she predicted.<\/p>\n

Choosing to come<\/p>\n

For organizers, athletes, and former participants alike, this year\u2019s tournament is about more than a competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a different Maccabiah, but a very meaningful one,\u201d Hessing said. He already knows the moment he believes will stay with him most: the opening ceremony at Teddy Stadium on July 1.<\/p>\n

Hosted by Assi Azar and Anna Aronov, the ceremony is expected to feature performances by Montana Tucker, Netta Barzilai, Anna Zak, Idan Raichel, Itay Levy, and Yuval Raphael.<\/p>\n

\"FireworksFireworks on display at the July 6, 2017, opening ceremony of the 20th Maccabiah Games, the quadrennial Jewish sports extravaganza that is set to open this year at Jerusalem\u2019s Teddy Stadium. (credit: RONEN ZVULUN\/REUTERS)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we will have a full stadium\u2026 singing \u2018Hatikva,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI believe that will be the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Solomon, the meaning is simpler. After a year of uncertainty, postponed plans, and continued training, he is still preparing to board a plane to Israel for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no place I\u2019d rather be,\u201d he said.\u25a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For athletes, the postponement disrupted years of preparation. For organizers, it raised larger questions: whether delegations would still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[2492,15073,9921,37,12623,40105,549],"class_list":["post-162417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-antisemitism","tag-competition","tag-diaspora-jews","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem-report","tag-maccabiah","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116758944522341301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}