Maccabi – From a Sports Association to a Political Party

Amongst the lists that competed in the fourth assembly of the Jewish community in Palestine (1944) was the list of Maccabi. This presentation discusses the factors that led Maccabi to become a political party, using sports as an electoral mobilization mechanism. Much has been written about sports as a vehicle for class-based ideology, and about political organizations that established sports clubs. Maccabi traveled in the opposite direction: From a sports association, it underwent a process of politicization.

At first, it presented itself as a national non-political organization. The establishment of Hapoel made Maccabi affiliated with the bourgeois circles of society. Maccabi leaders, especially those from Germany and Austria who came during the 1930s, debated the transformation of the association to a political party. They joined the New Immigration Party, which in many ways expressed the worldview of Central European immigrants. Due to ideological disagreements with the party, Maccabi decided to run as an independent party at the assembly. The big question to follow this decision was whether the Maccabi members would show loyalty to the sports organization as a political party. Maccabi failed in the elections. Only 3 of its members were elected. In 1946, Maccabi again ran as a party in the elections for the 22nd Zionist Congress. The failure was complete. Maccabi failed to get even one seat. Joining the General Zionist Party after the establishment of the State of Israel put an end to Maccabi’s independent political aspirations, and it became a sports organization sponsored by a political party. Their political activity in the General Zionists, in addition to receiving financial support from the party, was the end of Maccabi`s stated neutrality, and Maccabi ceased to be a national sports association.