The ministers have approved a suggestion by the Minister of Sport and Culture Limor Livnat that would move the opening ceremony, along with some of the actual sporting events, of the Maccabiah Games to the capital city, Jerusalem.

the next Maccabiah Games will take place in the summer of 2013, next year. I took part in the last Maccabiah Games, 3 years ago, by running the Half Marathon, which was an open event. I remember running that half marathon in Netanya on a very hot and humid July night. There was very little air movement, and many people dropped out in the middle with some requiring medical attention due to the extreme heat. Many of the rest of us ran much slower than expected due to the extreme heat.

I would hope that the half marathon will be moved to Jerusalem so next summer running it will be reasonably pleasant - the hills might be hard, but the night air in Jerusalem is far more pleasant than it is in Netanya.

PM Netanyahu praised the decision saying that moving the events to Jerusalem will strengthen the position of Jerusalem as the capital along with exposing the city to athletes and other participants and that will encourage their eventual aliyah. along with that, holding the events in Jerusalem will be an economic boost to the city and its residents.

I would hope that the games would be kept away from religious areas so as not to encourage protesters for religious reasons, such as Hellenizing the city (despite using the name of the Maccabees). Summer always sees an increase in protests, as the weather gets hotter, blood pressures increase, days get longer, etc., (see the renewed Karta protests the past 2 weeks), and the Maccabiah would do itself a favor and avoid getting entangled in that scene.

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