- July 4, 2026
- 1:00 pm
- Israel, Ukraine
On July 1, 2026, the 22nd World Maccabiah opened in Jerusalem — one of the largest international Jewish sports events, often called the Jewish Olympic Games.
For Israel, the Maccabiah is not just about sports. It is a meeting of Jewish communities from around the world, a great symbol of the diaspora’s connection with Israel, and a reminder that Jewish identity is sustained not only by memory and tradition but also by the active participation of people, youth, families, athletes, and communities.
For Ukraine, participation in the Maccabiah-2026 holds special significance. The “Maccabi-Ukraine” delegation represents the country during wartime, when Ukrainian sports endure alarms, shelling, relocations, losses, and destroyed infrastructure. Yet, Ukrainian athletes still step onto the international Jewish stage in Israel.
What is the 22nd World Maccabiah
The 22nd World Maccabiah is the 22nd Maccabiah. The Roman numeral XXII signifies the twenty-second tournament.
The Maccabiah is held in Israel every four years and is considered the main event of the international Maccabi World Union movement. Official materials refer to it as the Jewish Olympic Games. It is a sports competition, but its significance goes beyond a regular tournament: Jewish athletes from different countries come here to compete, get to know Israel, meet other communities, and feel part of a great Jewish history.
The Maccabiah-2026 takes place in Israel from June 30 to July 13, 2026 under the slogan “More Than Ever”. The opening ceremony was held on July 1, 2026, at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. According to organizers, about 10,000 athletes from 60 countries were expected to participate in the opening.
Other official materials indicate a scale of more than 8,000 athletes from approximately 55 countries, 45 sports, thousands of competitions, and about 3,000 medals. For the reader, the main point is not the discrepancy in numbers but the scale itself: Israel hosts the largest Jewish sports event, with delegations coming from all over the world.
Where the Maccabiah-2026 takes place
The Maccabiah is not confined to one stadium or city. Competitions are spread across various venues in Israel.
The main cities of the Maccabiah-2026 are Jerusalem, Haifa, Herzliya, and Tel Aviv-Yafo. According to the official scheme, Jerusalem hosts the Open category, Haifa hosts junior competitions, and Herzliya hosts the Masters category. Other participating cities include Hadera and Raanana, with special attention given to the communities of southern and northern Israel.
Some competitions take place in stadiums and sports complexes, while others are held on beaches and city venues. Tel Aviv-Yafo joined the Maccabiah for the first time as one of the main cities of the event, and a Maccabiah City zone was created at Expo Tel Aviv.
This is why the Maccabiah is perceived as a large sports route across Israel. Athletes not only come to compete but also see the country, meet Israelis, and become part of the shared Jewish history.
Who organizes the Maccabiah
The main organizer of the Maccabiah is the Maccabi World Union, the World Maccabi Union.
It is an international Jewish sports and educational organization. According to the Maccabi World Union, the movement operates on six continents, uniting about 450 clubs and covering hundreds of thousands of participants in dozens of countries.
The Maccabi World Union states its mission as strengthening the connection of Jews worldwide with Israel through sports, education, and community activity. Therefore, athletes at the Maccabiah do not perform individually. They are part of delegations from their countries and community structures.
Ukraine is represented at these Games by the “Maccabi-Ukraine” delegation.
The “Maccabi-Ukraine” delegation at the Games in Israel
According to the report of the Maccabi World Union, the “Maccabi-Ukraine” delegation at the 22nd World Maccabiah in Israel consists of 50 athletes.
Ukrainian participants came from various cities across the country: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi.
They compete in the following sports:
- swimming
- wrestling
- karate
- judo
- gymnastics
- volleyball
- basketball
- beach volleyball
- beach basketball
- fencing
- tennis
- table tennis
- athletics
Behind this list of cities is not just dry geography, but the reality of a warring country. Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia are regularly under Russian attacks. Mykolaiv and Odesa live under the threat of attacks from the sea and air. Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi, and Khmelnytskyi have also faced alarms, missiles, outages, relocations, and losses.
And against this backdrop, Ukrainian athletes come to Israel not as mere spectators of someone else’s celebration but as a full-fledged delegation. They represent Ukraine, the Ukrainian Jewish movement, and cities that continue to live, train, and fight.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency writes about this story in this context: Ukraine’s participation in the Maccabiah is not only about sports but also a sign of presence, dignity, and connection between Israel, Ukraine, and Jewish communities.
What is “Maccabi-Ukraine”
“Maccabi-Ukraine” is the Ukrainian part of the international Jewish sports movement Maccabi.
The official legal name of the organization in Ukraine is All-Ukrainian Association of Maccabi Organizations, abbreviated as VAO “Maccabi”. According to Ukrainian registration data, the organization was registered on June 3, 1997. The legal address is Kyiv, Mechnikova Street, 14/1. EDRPOU code — 21690894. The main activity is the activity of public organizations.
But the history of “Maccabi” in Ukraine is much older than modern registration.
The first organizations of the Jewish sports movement on the territory of modern Ukraine appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. In materials about the book “Maccabi in Ukraine: A Century and a Quarter”, it is mentioned that the first structures emerged in 1913 — in Odesa and Bukovina.
In April 1917, a sports club “Maccabi” was opened in Odesa. Odesa became one of the important centers of the movement, where Jewish sports structures operated, publications were issued, and an environment was formed in which sports were connected not only with physical training but also with Jewish self-awareness.
Later, Soviet power effectively interrupted the activities of many Jewish national organizations. Revival became possible only after the collapse of the USSR and the restoration of independent Ukraine. The modern All-Ukrainian Association of Maccabi Organizations became part of this return to Jewish sports and community tradition.
How many members “Maccabi-Ukraine” has
There is no open official number of members of “Maccabi-Ukraine” in public sources.
The registration data indicates that the organization operates as an all-Ukrainian association of public organizations, but the exact number of participants is not disclosed. Therefore, it is more accurate to speak not of a specific number but of a network of clubs, participants, and initiatives of the Jewish sports and cultural movement in various cities of Ukraine.
According to open publications and the organization’s activity, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Zhmerinka, Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi, Uzhhorod, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kryvyi Rih were mentioned in different years.
Thus, “Maccabi-Ukraine” is not just one club in the capital. It is a movement with a wide geography, working with youth, athletes, families, and Jewish communities.
History of the Maccabiah
The first Maccabiah was held in 1932 in Eretz-Israel, then still in Mandatory Palestine. It gathered 390 Jewish athletes from 18 countries and became the first major international Jewish sports competition in the country.
Since then, the Maccabiah has become one of the main symbols of Jewish sports. For many participants, it is the first major encounter with Israel, for others — an opportunity to once again feel connected to Jewish history, language, culture, and community.
This is what distinguishes the Maccabiah from a regular international tournament. Medals are important, but the meaning of the event is not limited to the results table. Here, sports become a language of connection between countries, generations, and communities.
In 2026, this is especially noticeable. Israel hosts the Maccabiah after the difficult years of war and the trauma of October 7. Ukraine arrives after years of Russian aggression, attacks on cities, and the struggle for survival. Therefore, the meeting of the Ukrainian delegation with Israel at the Maccabiah is a story not only about sports but also about the resilience of two societies.
Why Ukraine’s participation is important for Israel
For the Israeli audience, the participation of “Maccabi-Ukraine” is a reminder that Jewish life in Ukraine continues even during the war.
Ukrainian Jewish communities are working. Youth and sports programs gather people. Children and adults train, participate in tournaments, come to international competitions, and represent their country abroad.
For Israel, this is also important because the Ukrainian history of “Maccabi” is part of the great Jewish history of Eastern Europe. Odesa, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro — these are cities where Jewish life was not peripheral but one of the important layers of urban culture, sports, education, and public activity.
Today, as Ukraine defends itself against Russian aggression, the participation of the Ukrainian delegation in the Maccabiah becomes a gesture of presence: Ukraine exists, Ukrainian Jews exist, Ukrainian sports exist, and the connection with Israel remains alive.
According to the official list of delegations for the Maccabiah-2026 — there is no delegation from Russia.
On the Maccabiah website in the Delegations section, the participating countries are listed. There are, for example, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Georgia, but Russia is not listed. Ukraine is separately listed in the official list.
However, there is an important detail: the “Maccabi Russia” website in March 2026 published an invitation to the Maccabiah-2026 and explicitly mentioned the neutral status of participants from Russia: without a flag, anthem, and country name, with a neutral designation approved by the organizers.
One can also add historical context: at the Maccabiah-2022, Russian and Belarusian teams did not participate; it was reported that Jewish athletes from Russia and Belarus who made aliyah and became Israeli citizens could compete under a special neutral delegation “Olim”, without connection to the Russian flag.
Main points
The 22nd World Maccabiah is the 22nd international Jewish sports competition in Israel, known as the Jewish Olympics.
The Games are held in Israel from June 30 to July 13, 2026. The opening ceremony took place on July 1 at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. Competitions are held in various cities, including Jerusalem, Haifa, Herzliya, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Hadera, and Raanana.
The organizer is the Maccabi World Union, an international Jewish sports and educational movement, uniting hundreds of clubs in dozens of countries.
“Maccabi-Ukraine” is the Ukrainian part of this movement. The modern All-Ukrainian Association of Maccabi Organizations was registered in Kyiv in 1997, but the historical roots of the movement on Ukrainian lands go back to the early 20th century — to Odesa, Bukovina, and other centers of Jewish life.
At the Maccabiah-2026, Ukraine is represented by a delegation of 50 athletes from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi.
And this is the main meaning of this news: Ukrainian athletes came to Israel not only for results and medals. They came as part of a great Jewish sports history, in which Ukraine occupies its place — difficult, vibrant, and very important.
