Maccabiah Opening

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.

The international press arrived by the hundreds to cover the visit of the President of the United States to Jerusalem.

While the rest of the world watched online broadcasts, so did residents of Jerusalem, many of whom were confined to their homes with security closings of the Jerusalem streets.

I knew the street with Beit Hanasi, the Israeli President’s Residence would be closed off, and even views would be blocked, so I went early to get you a view of a few of the thousands of US and Israeli flags put up for the visit.

People were so wary, or weary, of closings that at this corner cars backed up and turned around. Only it was a just transport vehicle stopped for a red light.

At the King David Hotel, security measures to block access were readied in advance for the President’s arrival, and these streets were often shut to pedestrians as well as cars.

The night before the Presidential arrival of Joe Biden, the flags displayed over the King David Hotel blew in the wind.

In Bloomfield Park behind the hotel, a lone cat strolled,

the area would be totally closed off the next day.

I had ventured out early to get photos of the presidential visit to share on my way to the Touro Restaurant for a foreign media reception.

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides attended with a small entourage.

He seemed to enjoy posing for photos on the night before the “big event.”

A media center was set up for foreign journalists. Very few would be allowed anywhere near the actual scene. I decided to stay home and watch on my computer and capture screenshot images.

But I was out enough to see a fraction of the security arriving to guard every corner and rooftop along the Presidential mega motorcade route which would be closed before, during, and after the times Biden was to be on the Jerusalem streets.

By now you should understand why Jerusalem residents are not thrilled to have these Presidential visits?

Trump came for Jerusalem Day and shut things down.

I remember the preparations for Obama and both Bush visits, which were not fun times for locals either–when even walking was not allowed.

But there was more action on the Jerusalem streets!

Long-planned and Covid-postponed, the 21st Maccabiah opening event was held at Teddy Stadium in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel.

Over 30,000 people were scheduled to attend the mega event, arriving from around the world. Eighty countries were said to be represented.

And then, in addition to the usual Israeli President and Prime Minister making a showing, US President Joe Biden came too, and waved his USA Maccabiah hat to the crowd and TV audience.

There were entertainers for the cameras and a drone circling above, as 10,000 Maccabiah participants entered the stadium.

Some of the people in the stands had come hours before.

Minister of Culture and Sport Chili Tropper was the only one not behind the protective shield, as the Herzogs and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and wife along with Defense Minister Benny Gantz waved.

Gantz stood alone for a few minutes,

and then came down and walked through the admiring crowd as if it was his campaign rally for Prime Minister. Remember elections are set for the beginning of November, the fifth Israeli elections in three years.

At this Maccabiah 2022 opening, there were jokes about who could tell US Secret Service from the Israeli security inside and outside the stadium.

And police and more police watching the crowd from above.

That is all well known, I want to share what you might not have seen.

In the crowd of 30,000, I met two women from the US. When you arrive three hours before an event, it is time to walk around and make new friends.

The smiles of those marching in the Maccabiah opening teams, and in all the chaos finding a familiar face is priceless.

Officially Maccabiah 2022 had 74 delegations with 10,274 participants.

The Bahamas had six participants, and Azerbaijan seven, the smile on the face of the scout holding the sign could be seen from across the field. And right behind was the Cayman Islands with 2 people.

Smiles and more flags, kept coming, the Czech Republic had four athletes, but Uruguay had 228 and Canada 582.

Finland had 5 athletes, behind its flag, while Argentina sent a large delegation with 787 and there were future athletes “marching” as well.

Smiling faces for the camera seemed endless, but only one winter games mascot was spotted. In Jerusalem, the night cooled off, but I wondered if it was cool enough for that costume?

There was more than one kangaroo in the crowd, Australia had 575 athletes, although it seemed more with so many excited spectators.

So many flags, too many for this post.

From Holland, a documentary team came to film the Under-16 women’s soccer team.

Smoke and confetti filled the air, exciting for the moment, but not great for photography.

The show went on with musical entertainment as the 10,000 Maccabiah participants walked into the stadium and afterward, and found their way up to their seats in the stands before the TV broadcast began.

The “Jewish Olympics,” as the Maccabiah has been called, is the second largest sports event in the world, and has a flame lighting ceremony all its own at the start. Plus a Yizkor, remembering the Olympic athletes murdered in Munich.