Israel Active

The Western Galilee Now consortium of small businesses has just held its eight Spring Festival, supported by JNF-USA. Its 30 events highlighted the region’s variety of cultural, culinary, art, leisure and nature activities, as well as its geographical richness, history and multiculturalism.

Israel’s Shmuel T. Meyer has been awarded “Best Novella” in the Spring Goncourt Prize - France’s most prestigious literary honor. “Et la guerre est finie … “ (And the War Is Over) is a trilogy set in post-war France, Israel’s War of Independence and New York.

Holon’s Toto Arena is holding the World premiere of an interactive exhibit, “Barca, The Exhibition” from 15 July. Produced by a group of Israeli promoters and supported by the Spanish Embassy in Israel, it simulates a player’s journey from Barcelona soccer club’s youth academy through to its first team.

Israel’s David (“Deddy”) Dayag is an astro-photographer, who captures outer space images of nebulae, galaxies, planets, the sun and more, according to ILTV, from his backyard in Netanya. For some clearer pictures, though, he visits the Negev desert.

Russian-Israeli Aslan Karatsev beat world number one Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Serbian Open in Belgrade. Karatsev grew up in Israel but now plays for Russia. He recently rose from 114th in the world to number 28 and probably now will be even higher.

The National Library of Israel (NLI) in Jerusalem and the National Archives of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi have signed a historic memorandum of understanding (MoU). It covers cultural exchange, including conferences, exhibitions, workshops, study tours and training.

Israel’s Moran Samuel won a silver medal in the 2km event at the European Rowing Championships in Lake Varese, Italy. There was no medal ceremony due to the pandemic and the medalists instead collected their own awards from an empty podium.

An impressive 1,600-year-old mosaic, found during excavations in Israel’s southern city of Yavne, is to be placed on public display at the city’s cultural center. It is in excellent condition and the first time that such a pavement has been uncovered in Yavne.

Israel’s Ironi Ness Ziona beat Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski of Poland 82-74 to become the first Israeli team to win FIBA’s prestigious International Basketball Federation Europe Cup.

Two Israelis have launched an ambitious campaign to build a 1:1 scale map of Israel, as accurately as possible, in the popular Minecraft video game.