Israel Active

Israel’s youth baseball team won the European U18 Baseball Championship qualifiers in Stockholm and a place in next summer’s championships. Earlier in July, Israel’s men’s national team won their tier “B” pool in Bulgaria to boost their chances of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The 2019 European Lacrosse Federation Women’s European Lacrosse Championship was held this year in Israel. It featured 300 women from 16 European countries at the Kraft Family Sports Campus’ Jerusalem stadium. Israel reached the final, narrowly losing to favorites England.

Jerusalem has been ranked second in the category of “Best Cities in Africa and the Middle East” by US-based Travel + Leisure magazine. Cape Town came top for the 18th consecutive year. Tel Aviv was sixth.

For the sixth consecutive year, Netanya hosts the International Clown Festival from Aug 14 – 16. Free events take place in Netanya’s streets and Independence Square. There are also plays at Netanya’s Culture Center.

The renowned international Lego Art Exhibition, “The Art of the Brick,” returns to Holon Israel (Jul 25 to Aug 31). It will feature large scale, 3D Lego sculptures by US award-winning “Brickartist” Nathan Sawaya,. Simultaneously, Tel Aviv’s Lego Space park includes a life-size replica of SpaceIL’s Beresheet lunar lander.

Jerusalem’s overall character was the idea behind “Overall,” a festival celebrating the culture of contemporary fashion at Jerusalem’s Tower of David Museum. The free, three-day event included a fashion show by graduates of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

Netflix has made a new film, telling the story of the Mossad operation to rescue Ethiopian Jews from Sudan in the early 1980s and bring them to the Jewish State.  The spy thriller, “The Red Sea Diving Resort,” is inspired by real events and will be released on July 31.

This week there was gold for Judoka Ori Sasson in Budapest; two golds and a silver in the World Rowing Cup; Israel’s under-18 baseball squad qualified for Europe; and Selamawit Dagnachew (5km) and Marhu Teferi (marathon) will be the first married couple to represent Israel at the Olympics.

Budding tennis professionals (and even top stars) can now examine their progress and improve their game using the results data analysis app from Israel’s LVision.   Its AI system converts videos of matches into statistics, including speed and distance covered of balls and players.

Here are some tips to help enjoy Israel’s summer like a local. They include sunshades, water fountains, white shirt over your head, sunscreen and sunglasses, loose clothing, free water parks, fruit shakes and ice pops, avoid peak sun, avoid oven cooking and finally – conserve water.