Israel Active

97-year-old artist Yaacov Agam is the recipient of the Israel Prize in the field of plastic arts, painting, sculpture and photography for 2026. His seven decades of plastic art, kinetic art, and op art includes the "Fire and Water" fountain in Dizengoff Square.

Deni Avdija has made history, becoming first-ever Israeli selected to play in the NBA All-Star Game. The achievement is one more accolade for Avdija during a breakout season, in which he’s averaging over 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game. This is his sixth season in the league.

Israel’s Izhak Ashpiz was named “Prince of Tibilsi” when the 18-year-old dominated the Under 60kg Men’s Grand Slam Judo event in the capital of Georgia. Ranked officially number 14, he displayed a masterclass in varied execution to exploit weaknesses in each opponent. Next the Olympics.

Israeli beer expert Doug Greener takes the lid off several new Israeli beers that add to the culture and flavor of the country.  Best wait until after Passover.

The Knesset’s 60th annual Tu B’Shevat celebration, featured an exhibition tracing Jewish leadership institutions from the Great Assembly and Sanhedrin to the modern Israeli parliament. It included a recently unearthed stone vessel used by Galilean Jews 1,800 years ago.

Gan Guru in Beit She’an is the only animal park outside Australia with kangaroos that roam freely. 20 Gan Guru kangaroos flew from Israel as part of a donation to the Moscow Zoo. They were flown via Abu Dhabi by Etihad Cargo, which also flew 6 zebras from Israel to India.  

Israelis won 17 medals at the IMMAF European Championship in Serbia. 15-year-old Guy Pariente and Alon Avital won gold. Maya Day and Maya Behar won gold at the JJIF Genoa Open Ju-Jitsu Grand Prix in Italy. Israeli windsurfer Sharon Kantor won silver at the iQFOiL International in Spain.

Israel’s women fencing team won the gold medal in Abu Dhabi while the men’s squad captured gold in Switzerland. Meanwhile, Noa Szőllős earned Israel’s first-ever World Cup points in alpine skiing, in the slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.  

For the first ever time the Israeli bobsleigh team has qualified for the Winter Olympic Games. Even when they were robbed of their passports and thousands of dollars of money, equipment and accessories, they went straight back into training, showing true Israeli spirit.

Some 140 of the season’s first storks have arrived at the Hula Lake Park, marking the start of the major spring migration. The male birds fly in first, in order to build or reinforce existing nests before the females arrive. An estimated 600,000 storks will pass over Israeli skies in the coming months.