Israel Active

The city of Eilat is the first resort in Israel to ban disposable cups and bags from its beaches to protect the Red Sea from the “threat of plastic”. Beachgoers are forbidden from bringing disposable items onto the beach, whether made of plastic, aluminum, cardboard or paper.

The Jerusalem Grand Prix, part of the World Championship for chess, is taking place in Jerusalem (Dec 10 – 23). It is the first time that Israel has hosted the competition. The sixteen competitors include Israel’s Boris Gelfand.

Israel lifted the cup in the 10th edition of Admiral Cup Sailing Regatta at the Indian Naval Academy in Kannur, India. Israel’s Itai Schroit won the individual men’s event with his countryman Ido Mazor finishing third.

The Hamin Festival will be held over the course of three weekends in January at Tel Aviv’s North Market. On Thursdays and Fridays, visitors can buy a wide variety of Sephardi (Oriental and Spanish & Portuguese) “hamin” and “tbit” stews and Ashkenazi (Eastern European) “cholent” stews.

In 2017 London hosted a Tel Aviv festival.  Now Tel Aviv has reciprocated. The 4-day LND in TLV fest (Nov 27-30) featured music from a Queen tribute band, literature based on Shakespeare, classical music, dance, British beer and of course fish & chips. Supporters included UK-based Virgin Atlantic.

After years of work on the Walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, the Northern Ramparts Walk (Wall Promenade) is now open. The new section covers over half of the Old City to the west, north, and east. It gives a bird's-eye view of the Christian and Muslim Quarters and Mount of Olives.

Aquafaba - the viscous liquid produced from boiling chickpeas, is often used as a vegan egg replacer. At Tel Aviv vegan restaurant Meshek Barzilay they use it to make sauces. mayonnaise, vinaigrette, lemon meringues, cakes, and as a thickener for stews.

The BBC’s Good Food magazine ranked Tel Aviv 7th in its top 10 destinations for foodies in 2020. It specially mentioned Tel Aviv’s “slick vegan coffee shops” and street food such as hummus, falafel and shakshuka.

Two Iranian judokas have deserted Iran after being bullied into boycotting Israeli athletes. 2018 World Champion Saeid Mollaei and Mohammad Rashnonezhad have signed to compete in January’s Tel Aviv Grand Prix as members of the Mongolian and IJF refugee teams respectively.

Israeli hoops champions Maccabi Tel-Aviv beat Baskonia (83-113) in Spain, to earn its sixth straight win. It moved Maccabi Tel Aviv up to fourth place in the Euroleague table.