Jews from all over the world are coming to Israel to mingle, play sports and have fun—the exact opposite of what Elkariv apparently thinks Jews should do. Elkariv: eat your heart out I know concept such as fun may seem strange to you, but I recommend trying to learn them. You will probably feel much better and annoy other people much less.

Yakir Elkariv's golden shovelling needs to be viewed through clear lenses, not through the cow-patties he's shoveling. The idea of the Maccabiah games is no better or worse than any other national competition. The US has national competitions for everything from baseball (The World Series) to Ice Skating, and every other sport in between. So too, do you see this in every other nation state in the world!!! Israel defines itself as the nation of the Jewish people, so therefore invites Jews from outside Israel to participate. The idea that by allowing other Jews to participate is racist, would be to call all other sporting events limited to nationals to be racist as well. The idea that this is racism falls apart when one realizes that Israel is not forbidding participation by specific other group, but the entire set of people who are not Jews or reversing it to its normal field of view, the subset of the people of Israel. One might claim that this is racist if someone could not become a Jew, but as we have seen, Jews come in all shapes and sizes and one is not 'restricted' to join the tribe. When all is said and done, Yakir's argument is no more fragrant than the excrement he picks up with his pen.

To the author: Since you are Israeli, I will forego the niceties: you sir are a moron of the highest order. How exactly are the Maccabi games different from any other cultural event? If the Maccabiah were open to non-Jews, then it would mainly be more of a sporting event than a cultural event. The history of the Maccabiah pre-dates Israel and it has always served as a way of bringing Jewish people from all around the world together. Aside from being a sanctimonious blowhard, the author failed to prove how this is any more racist than any other cultural event. Second, to the moderators of YNETnews.com: are Israeli journalism standards really so lacking, that any idiot with a half-of-a-brain cell can post mental vomit on your in the form of a poorly constructed Opinion piece?

You are clearly the most miserable person on earth. It is also clear that you have absolutely no idea what it is to play sports or be part of a team. Worst article I have ever read. Racism...HA! What a joke

gfy.have some respect for the great maccabiahs , your forefathers. you should be ashamed to write this article based on falsehood.after all , weren't the maccabiahs jews !!!!

out of here; do it NOW!

The comments are going to be fun. I'm going to enjoy this show.

This guy is a complete Moron why does ynetnews print this dreak

There's nothing wrong with a Caribbean Games, a Scottish Games, a University Games. Being ethnic doesn't make it wrong, only the Jewish ethnicity makes it wrong. Anti-racism indeed.

fall in love with Israel ??? stay with you ??? You treat olim like crap. But you want and need young people to use them into the army, of course. Israelis are self-seeking people.

Yakir: Get a life. These kids just want to have fun with other Jewish kids. I'm sorry you were deprived of such an experience when you were a child, but don't take your loss out on them! Peace!

So, let's stop all these racist competitions. Let's stop also the "Paralympic Games", which discriminates against not disabled people. And the "Commonwealth Games", discriminating against people that were not from the British colonies. And the "CPLP Games", against people that does not speak Portuguese. And the "Youth Olympic Games", against old people. And the "Special Olympics", discriminating the non-intellectually challenged. And about the "Gay Games"...

How is having a competition between between Jews racism? Having a world wide competition and excluding only one race from competition is racism. BiG Difference between the two. Is having a female only event in the Olympics considered sexism? I Respectfully disagree with your b. S. opinion!

The norwegian youths labour party, use Utoya as a brainwashing camp, every summer, year by year. As we can see from pictures, with former FM Gard Støre and the leader Eskild Pedersen in front of "boycot Israel"., they are specially training for the hate of Israel. All though Utoya can be similar to Hamas summer camps for kids, the Maccabi Games are not teaching hate, as in Norway and at Gaza. The Maccabiah actually build up self confidence in the jewis youths, in a camp, away from the hatered they meet every day in different countries, also Norway. (just inform me if I am wrong..)

Wow, what an incredibly dumb stance taken by the writer. Every region of the world had their own local competitions. Is the African Cup of Nations meaningless because it excludes non-Africans? Pan-Am Games? European Championships - no South Americans so it's not really the best in class. Should we also abolish women's sports and make them compete with men to make it 'meaningful'? Oh, and by the way, there has been and still is no shortage of instances where Jews can't compete. Shame on ynet for publishing this crap.

This editorial is a new low. Words cannot describe how repulsive this article is

Desparte and sad article from, most likely, failed athlete. Sorry buddy.

elkariv, read your article 3 times and don't quite get the jest. I've allways thought the event was terrific, my wife and I went there several years ago and loved it. why would you try and put a damper on this.? By the way, what do you do for a living?

read the article today by yishai Fleisher and the good commentary it received.might be something of an enlightenment for you.

1. "jew" isn't a race. its a religion and a people. the author doesn't seem to know what being jewish means, so this is confusing to him. if you invite your family to a reunion, is that racist? 2. you have a very israel centric, head in the sand , view of the jewish world if you think that the only purpose of the macabiah is to advertise for aliyah. it really has nothing to do with the state of israel, it has to do with the jewish people. it could be held in new jersey instead, but doesn't israel make more sense?

positive sides .

I agree with Elkariv's use of the term "bullshit" but not in the context of how he used it. It is more apt to apply it to his whole opinion piece. I have rarely read something so full of crap as this piece.

A self hating, self loathing Jew. If you don't like it, just follow them , go abroad, don't return here. The only sentence which makes sense in this article is the last one: folks like you -just sod off.

You get 10 big points for calling the kettle black! ;-) Just one thing there be Jews who are white and there be Jews who are black and there be Jews who are Asian...Jew isn't a race it is a religious-ethnic group. But apart from that one little point...you hit the nail on the head. Thank you for writing it.

I am willing to give you my USA passport so you would get the hell away from here! less of you better for the small country for normal us!

How can the Jews possibly be described as a 'race'? Not only are there black Jews, white Jews and Asian Jews (whether from the sub-continent or elsewhere) but anyone from any 'racial' background can convert to Judaism.

Whoa! Yakir! Sit down! Close your eyes! Take a deep breath and CALM DOWN! It's just a sporting event. Nothing more. It does not have any meaning beyond that. If you know your history the Maccabee Games were started only for the purpose of fighting the myth that Jews were weaklings and incapable of physical prowess. It brought us together when anti-Semitism was rampant (and still is). Jews were often banned from sporting venues and even if they weren't, they faced a lot of discrimination. So these games were our answer to all that. It doesn't matter how well our Jewish athletes do, the point is they come together to fight old stereotypes and have some fun in the process. There are plenty of venues where the rest of the world can compete, this one is ours. It makes me proud.