The Jerusalem Municipality had decided to change the course of the Jerusalem Marathon. The new route will not include running paths in areas of Jerusalem that were added to the city after 1967. Last month, two Meretz members of the Jerusalem City Council asked Adidas, which I sponsoring the marathon, to pull out of its sponsorship, threatening to start an international campaign accusing the company of supporting “occupation.”

Municipality officials denied that it was pressure from Adidas that led to the change of the route. In a statement, a city spokesperson said that the municipality was hoping to keep politics out of the event.