Israel Active

The Felicja Blumental International Music Festival runs Mar 25 – 30 at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. It advertises as “the best of our Israeli songwriters and classical Arabic music, all wrapped within European classical music performed by orchestras and chamber ensembles”.

The 11th International Photography Festival has been rescheduled and will now take place Mar 27 – Apr 6 at the Enav Cultural Center and Ofer Garden complex in Tel Aviv. It is free and includes the Meitar 2024 exhibition, focusing on photographs of the evacuees of the Negev and the Galilee.

Israel’s entry in the Eurovision song contest had to be changed, as the European Broadcasting Authority objected to the original lyrics referring to Oct 7.  Let’s hope that the new version, entitled “Hurricane”, blows the audience away!

Israeli cyclist Itamar Einhorn of Israel Premier - Tech Cycling Team, won the opening stage of the Tour de Taiwan in Tapei, becoming the first Israeli to wear the yellow jacket in one of Asia’s oldest races.

Two Israeli pizzerias have been selected to be featured in the annual 50 Top Pizza ranking in the Asia-Pacific category. The Fresca pizzeria from Kibbutz Afikim, located south of the Sea of Galilee, was ranked 37th in the guide, and the Jerusalem-based La Piedra was ranked 39th.

The sixth Jerusalem Biennale is finally set to return to the Israeli capital five months after the war in Gaza forced the organizers to take the art platform on a world tour. (see ). It has been updated to give broader recognition to female artists and include more works created post-Oct 7.

LiaFEST at the Jerusalem Cinematheque honors Lia van Leer, the founder of that cinematheque, the Haifa Cinematheque, the film festivals in Jerusalem and Haifa, as well as the Israel Film Archive. The Tel Aviv Cinematheque is also featuring a women’s film festival.

The 13th edition of the race featured a record 40,000 participants, including 15,000 IDF soldiers and 1,800 international runners from more than 70 countries. Many runners participated in full IDF uniform, or with Israel flags, and shirts supporting the hostages.

Elizabeth Tkachenko and Alexei Kiliakov won silver in the ice dance at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei. Judoka Baruch Shmailov won silver at the Tashkent Grand Slam event. And 2nd-placed go-karter Yam Pinto held up a poster at the CEE Rotax Max Championship.

At the Gymnastic International 2024 in Germany, Israel’s Daniella Munits won the gold medal in hoop and bronze with ball. In the juniors’ competition, Israel’s Alona Tal Franco won gold in hoop and clubs, while Meital Sumkin won gold in the ball and the ribbon.