The Maccabiah Games, which President Biden is scheduled to attend on Thursday night, is Israel’s largest sporting event, commonly known as the Jewish Olympics.
The event is open to Jewish athletes from around the world, as well as Israeli athletes of any religion. About 10,000 athletes from more than 60 countries traveled to Israel this week to compete in the games, making it one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
The 21st Maccabiah – named after an ancient Jewish warrior, Judah Maccabee – began on Tuesday and is happening over a two-week period at dozens of locations around the country.
The United States has 1,400 athletes represented, making it the largest foreign delegation. According to an Olympic spokesman, Russia and Belarus withdrew from this year’s event before the organizers decided whether to ban the Russian delegation from competing because of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
The first Maccabiah Games took place in 1932 at Mandatory Palestine, the area known for being under British control. According to the organization, the goal is to give Jewish athletes, who sometimes face objectionable restrictions on athletic performance, the opportunity to compete at a high level and to “glorify sporting achievements of Jewish youth”.
In the following years, amid rising anti-Semitism in Europe, many participants would resettle in Mandatory Palestine following the event.
The Olympics have since continued to serve as a conduit for Israeli citizenship, with more than 5% of participating athletes seeking such status after the event, according to the government. Maccabiah presents “a golden opportunity to encourage aliyah” – or Jewish immigration to Israel – Pnina Tameno Shete, minister in charge of aliyah and integration, said in statement this week.
One of the most prominent examples is Tal Brodyan American-born basketball star who gave up a promising NBA career after winning a gold medal at the Olympics with the United States in 1965. He soon immigrated to Israel and played for Maccabi Tel Aviv. , a major Israeli basketball team, the latter took the lead. they come to a European title.
