Maccabiah Games

The Maccabiah Games is an international Jewish athletic event similar to the Olympics. The games were first held in 1932 and occur every four years in Israel. The most recent games were held in July 2005. The Maccabiah is the fourth biggest sport event after the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and the Universiade.

Previous Games

Games have been held roughly every four years in Eretz Yisrael (either Palestine or Israel) since 1932.

Related Topics:
Palestine - Israel

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15th Maccabiah Games

The 1997 Maccabiah Games will be remembered by all its participants -- and Jewish people -- around the world as a games that was marred by the collapse of a bridge immediately before the Opening Ceremony, leaving some athletes to fall into the diseased Yarkon River. On the bridge at the time were athletes marching to enter Ramat Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv.

Related Topics:
Yarkon River - Ramat Gan Stadium

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Four Australians were killed when the bridge collapsed. Tens more were injured.

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After the accident, both the Opening Ceremony and the Games themselves continue -- with spectators in the stadium given an announcement that the bridge had collapsed and at least one Australian had been killed -- albeit with lower enthusiasm than expected.

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Many inquests were completed into the collapse of the bridge by both Israeli and Australian authorities with some being considered more beneficial to the situation than others.

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16th Maccabiah Games

For the 2001 Games, the Opening Ceremony was held in Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, while the re-building process of the collapsed bridge and investigations into the collapse continued.

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It is considered a 'smaller games' for three main reasons: attendance was significantly lower, particuarly from the Australians (it sent only about 170 athletes, compared with around 400 in 1997); it was ran at the height of the Second Intifada (and straight after the infamous Dolphinarium bombing -- the largest of the Intifada -- that killed 21 Israelis, mostly high school students); and not all wounds had been healed after the collapse of the bridge.

Related Topics:
Second Intifada - Dolphinarium

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17th Maccabiah Games

For the first time since 1997, the 2005 Maccabiah Games were considered a success. Apart from the usual lack of interest from Israeli society, attendance was back up, and three out of four families of those who died in the 1997 bridge collapse attended.

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It received the biggest attendance of any Maccabiah Games to date, which included more than 900 representatives from the United States, almost 500 from Australia, and more than 2,000 from Israel bringing the total participants to more than 5,000.

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