Israel Active

For the first time in Israel, a mocha-colored hybrid stork (a cross between a black and white stork) was recorded by birdwatchers in the Hulda reservoir in the Shephelah. A similar hybrid  had been spotted previously in southern Germany, but that was a different bird.

Israel outdueled Italy, 9-8, in a blockbuster final to win the 2025 European Men’s Lacrosse Championship in Wroclaw, Poland. Israel was undefeated in all seven games and qualified for the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Japan.

Israeli sailors Tal Sde and Maor Abu won the bronze medal at the European 49er Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece.

David Draiman is the pro-Israel frontman for heavy metal rock group “Disturbed” and performed at Black Sabbath's farewell event. Despite some boos, he said, “I came to honor my idols, Black Sabbath, and I won't let some Jewish haters change that." Then in Israel he met Yarden Bibas.

A volunteer, working with the excavation team in Susita (aka Hippos) discovered a gold ring and a pair of earrings, dating back nearly two millennia. The team also uncovered many fragments of intricate stucco work from a Roman-Byzantine residential neighborhood.

Nine international historians, archeologists, and filmmakers each won the 2025 Dan David prize along with $300,000. The one Israeli winner, Bar Kribus from Tel Aviv University, is an archaeologist specializing in Ethiopian archaeology and the history and culture of the Ethiopian Jews.

Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osborne, who recently passed away at the age of 76, played two packed-out concerts in Israel, in 2010 and 2018. He, and his Jewish wife Sharon, visited key religious and historical sites including Yad Vashem. He recently condemned the BBC’s anti-Israel bias.

For the first time, Israel’s Guy Sasson with Netherland’s Niels Vink won the Wimbledon quad (wheelchair) doubles tournament, adding to their success at the French Open in June. Sasson said  “As the lion roars and as the young lion rises. The people of Israel live.” (Num 23 v24 Am Kalavi)

Israel’s Blessing Akwasi Afrifah won the 200-meters gold at the 2025 U-23 European Athletics Championships in Bergen, Norway. He was defending the title he won in 2024.

History was made at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), as Israeli-American Michael Mizrachi clinched the world championship title and walked away with a staggering $10 million prize. The son of an Israeli father, Mizrachi proudly displayed a tattoo of the Israeli flag on his arm.