Israel Active

Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson continued to enjoy his recent stopover in Israel. Having formally launched Virgin Atlantic’s new London to Tel Aviv direct service, he embarked on a business “venture” at Jaffa flea market to conduct some Middle Eastern negotiations.

Israel is sending its largest ever team to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. 85 athletes far exceed the 47 athletes at the 2016 Olympics. They qualified for baseball, rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, show jumping, cycling, sailing, and surfing. Judokas, swimmers and runners should join them.

A new TV show on Amazon Prime called The Tech Talk Show features innovative and emerging entrepreneurs from around the world.  Series One focuses on 50 Israeli startups. (trailer)

Israeli master violinmaker Amnon Weinstein has restored more than 70 string instruments whose Jewish owners survived the Holocaust. Now eight from his collection “Violins of Hope” will be played by the Orchestre Métropolitain at a concert on 2nd Nov at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal in Canada.

Liat Dror, artistic director at the award-winning Sderot Adama Dance Company, is staging a performance on the Gazan border to express Israel’s humanity in the face of living under constant attack.

Tel Aviv’s Kerem Hateimanim (Yemenite Vineyard) was founded by Jewish refugees fleeing Yemen over 100 years ago. It is now one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world according to Forbes travel magazine, yet it is still home to 50 synagogues.

Israeli cyclists will be competing in the 2020 Tour de France for the first time ever. It follows the Israeli cycling team’s inaugural entry in the high-profile Giro d’Italia that began in Jerusalem last year. Israel joined the Pro Continental ranks in 2017.

Israel’s Katy Spychakov came second in the women’s RS:X Windsurfing World Championships on Lake Garda in Italy. It is the first Israeli medal at the global competition since 2014.

French-Canadian superstar Celine Dion will be making her Israel debut in Tel Aviv next summer. She is scheduled to perform on 4th August at Park Hayarkon as part of her Courage World Tour (named after her new album). She posted “See you soon Tel Aviv, Love, Celine” on her twitter page.

Israel’s Shaul Cohen made around 50 unique “Israeli humor” objects as part of his degree course at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. They include unusual snow globes, a talking seashell and a candies slingshot for bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies.