America’s first representatives for the Maccabiah Games were set to hit the ground in Israel this week. Then came the news that the games were being postponed until next year.

Competitors have been preparing for the event for years, Marshall Einhorn, CEO of Maccabi USA, the American arm of the movement, told eJP, and, in less than two weeks, over 500 American athletes would have arrived, hungry to experience Israel with competitors from around the globe. “It’s sad news that it’s come to this,” he said. “It’s certainly understandable.”

This marks the first time that the games have been called off due to the security situation in Israel. First held in pre-state Tel Aviv in 1932, the Maccabiah Games have taken place every four years, including during tumultuous times in the past. They’ve only ever been canceled once — during World War II — and the 2021 games were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The most important thing for us was not to cancel, but rather to postpone,” Amir Gissin, CEO of Maccabi World Union, told eJP. “That way we will be able to maintain the financial stability for the Maccabiah, Maccabi World Union and our territorial Maccabi organizations in all the countries.” 

The postponement announcement was made less than a month before the 22^nd Maccabiah Games opening ceremony was set to be held in Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. The games would have run from July 8 to July 22. After the Israeli government extended nationwide emergency measures through June 30, imposing restrictions on public gatherings, “we were forced to come to that decision,” Gissin said. Not only was it impossible to hold the games because of these restrictions — Israeli skies are also still closed, with no firm indication yet of when they will reopen —  he said, “there’s no way you can compromise on security and safety of the participants.”

In the predawn hours of Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces launched preemptive strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities. More than 24 Israelis have been killed in Iranian missile barrages since then, with hundreds more injured. Even if everything returned to normal by the 30^th, Maccabi World Union wouldn’t have time to prepare for July 10’s opening ceremony or to welcome nearly 80% of the athletes who arrive a week before the event to tour the country.

Because payments had already been placed for venues, hotels, and vendors, “It will be a tough negotiation [to get money back],” Gissin said. “ It’s too early to say how it will end. What is certain is that we will be missing several million dollars that we will have to fundraise for next year.”

This year’s event was to be the first held since the Oct. 7 massacres and was meant to offer “hope and the beginning for all of us in Israel and the Jewish world to start climbing out of the black hole we were in,” Gissen told eJP in May. The games were to feature over 8,000 athletes from more than 80 countries competing in 45 sports in 15 Israeli cities and the year’s catch phrase was “more than ever,” as in the games strengthening the connection between Israelis and diaspora Jewry were needed “more than ever.”

Like this year’s event was planned to be, the goal is for next year’s Maccabiah to be the largest event held in the world during 2026, Gissen said, “because more than ever will be even more.”

While the Maccabiah is Maccabi World Union’s biggest initiative, they have many other programs around the world running on schedule, including clubs, trips, and their Maccabi Tzair (Young Maccabi) youth movement that will “continue to convey message of unity and of strong connection to Israel all over the Jewish world.”

Just this past weekend, Maccabi USA, who had planned to bring 1,220 delegates, held a “send off” in Washington for delegates and their families, still hoping that the event would occur. Even without the games, similar meetups will continue to be held in the U.S., bonding the delegates together with the hope that the majority will be standing side by side next year in Teddy Stadium, Einhorn said.

Before the games were postponed, not a single U.S. delegate had canceled their trip, Gissin said. Even with all the tumult in Israel and Gaza, “the trust that we have, at least from the U.S., was not shaken in any way.”

Less than two months ago, Gissen had told eJP that “the Maccabiah will happen. Nothing will stop us, unless the government of Israel will tell us the security situation is too dangerous.” At the time, he couldn’t imagine a situation that would have led to the Maccabiah getting postponed.

“Life teach[es] us modesty,” he said yesterday, “and some things are greater than us.”