With a pandemic followed by 1,000 days of wars closing the skies, the ability for international travelers to get to Jerusalem, Israel, has been severely limited.
Conferences and major events have been canceled and postponed.
This past week, two events worth knowing about were held in Jerusalem.
Not as large an international attendance as in the past, but still impressive.
MIXiii-Health-Tech.IL
The life science and health technology conference by Israel Advanced Technology Industries was back at the Jerusalem International Conference Center on June 29-30, 2026.
It was good to see the Canadian Securities Exchange booth engaging with young future tech leaders.
It was good to see Panama’s Ambassador Ezra Cohen – he supports every event.
Fewer displays, but impressive nonetheless; many sound like science fiction.
Technion Professor Shulamit Levenberg presented on bioprinting and prosthetics.
With so many injured, their research is important. Imagine. Bioprinting tissues for implantation and limb repair, or instead of limping, can bioprinting be used to replace missing limbs?
Then Professor Yoram Weiss, Director General of Hadassah Medical Organization, illustrated how the hospital responded to patient treatment during war.
He went on to inform of working for the future with proton therapy, RNA organoid research, and more.
This panel discussed the next generation of cancer innovation.
If these were not futuristic enough,
Dr. Stephen K. Klasko came from the US to do a dramatic segment on the use of artificial intelligence in medicine.
It was good to see European venture capitalists speaking of investments in Israel, moderately but positively.
IATI CEO Karin Mayer Rubenstein mentioned media coverage of the 40% decline in funding for 2025 in Israeli life sciences companies.
As always, negative news gets headlines, not the close to 2,000 people who came to Jerusalem and attended the two-day conference.
Startups and technology leaders are looking to build and finance a better future.
Maccabiah 2026 – MORE THAN EVER July 1-14, 2026
I arrived very early and got a great front-row seat for the Maccabiah opening event.
This was the third gala opening I attended in Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium.
Who remembers the first time Teddy Stadium hosted the Maccabiah opening?
I had time to remember those big balloons and 9,000 athletes from 70 countries in 2013.
Canada had 667 athletes, including standout basketball star Amar’e Stoudemire.
58 athletes came from Turkey, and 111 were from Cuba. Australia had 442.
Not this year, athletes were noticeably absent from Australia, Canada, and South Africa.
More ‘Photos of the Maccabiah opening in 2013‘ on the RJS post.
The Maccabiah – often called the “Jewish Olympics” – has been held every 4 years since 1932.
The 22nd Maccabiah was to be held last year, but was postponed due to the war.
Montana Tucker helped announce the countries as they entered. She changed outfits and later performed with dancers.
This year, Argentina sent a large group of athletes to participate.
Australia sadly had only a small contingent this time.
Memories of fallen soldiers cast a shadow over the exciting and loud entrances of each country in alphabetical order.
Brazil entered with children holding a flag.
Finland had one athlete, as did Poland, the Virgin Islands, and other countries.
Germany had a large delegation.
However, the largest international delegation was from the United States.
MACCABIUSA banner led the close to 1,000-member delegation into the stadium.
By the time the international athletes were in the stadium, the spectators had finally passed security and filled their seats.
Then, the Israelis marched in and took their seats.
There were entertainment and musical performances.
Emotional moments of people connecting from across the oceans.
A memorial moment before the Olympic torch was lit.
The fiery torch arrived and entered Teddy Stadium.
Emergency EMTs also arrived. I wondered how many noticed the woman in a hijab along with a man with a kippa and others.
Fireworks and the program were not as big or long as I remembered for 2022 for the opening show.
But the show did go on!
Like for the MIXiii, getting to Israel with airlines not servicing Ben Gurion was a challenge.
But many of those who wanted to be here found a way.
Hope to see you next time on the Jerusalem streets.