The Eighth Maccabiah Games, Israel’s “little Olympics”, ended yesterday in a lopsided victory for the American teams. The United States took 631/2 gold medals, 401/2 silver medals and 34 1/2 bronze medals. Israel was second with 48 gold medals, 52 1/2 silver and 51 bronze medals. Britain, with 10 1/2 gold medals, took third place.
But Israel’s basketball squad scored a surprising upset victory over the United States in the basketball finals yesterday, A crowd of 5000 watched in the Ramat Gan stadium as the Israeli five won by a score of 74-70. It was the first American defeat in basketball since the Maccabiah games were started 20 years ago. Israel was originally to have played a semi-final match against Uruguay but was pitted against the powerful U.S. team when Uruguay was disqualified by the Maccabiah organizing committee on grounds that it had two non-Jews on its basketball squad. Maccabiah rules limits competition to Jews.
Canada was in 11th place among the 19 nations participating in the Maccabiah games. Canadian athletes won three gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals.
Deputy Premier Yigal Allon voiced the hope today that the next Maccabiah games played in Israel will see Jewish athletes from Eastern European countries participating. Mr. Allon addressed the 1,500 participants in the Maccabiah, when the athletes and their entourage visited Jerusalem and held a rally on Mt. Scopus. Mr, Allon told them that lasting peace could be achieved only at the negotiation table. He said when that stage is reached, “we have a lot to offer the Arabs.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
