At the 10th Maccabiah Games in Israel, more than 2,800 athletes from 34 countries participated in 26 different sports, including chess and bridge and for the first time badminton.

[7] In basketball, the United States, coached by Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes and with his son Danny Schayes, Ernie Grunfeld, Joel Kramer, Howard Lassoff, and Willie Sims on the team, won the gold medal in basketball, beating Israel 92–91 in the final at Yad Eliahu Stadium.

[8][9][10][11] Miki Berkovich, Motti Aroesti, Barry Leibowitz, Boaz Janay, and Steve Kaplan were among the Israeli basketball team's squad.

[9] In judo, Canadian Olympian Howard Stupp won gold medals in the lightweight division of both freestyle and Greco-Roman.

[37] Rena Kanokogi of the United States competed in women's judo, which was included in the Maccabiah Games for the first time.

[7] In soccer, Gad Machnes, Gili Landau, and Eli Cohen played for Israel, which won a gold medal.

[42] The Israeli contingent was the largest with 500 members, followed by the United States with 340, Brazil with 166, Australia with 165, France with 149, South Africa with 146, Italy with 118, Argentina with 103, and Mexico with 102 athletes.

[46] Due to international boycotts, Rhodesia was excluded from the games for the first time in seven Maccabiads and South Africa was barred from competing in several events.