Israel Active

King of Pop Justin Bieber enthralled 50,000 fans at Park Hayarkon in Tel Aviv.  The 90-minute performance included 25 songs, accompanied by lasers, fireworks and acrobats. His first song also helped a pregnant fan (three-weeks overdue) go into labor and later give birth to a healthy baby girl.

With the start of the swimming season, Israel has life guards supervising 144 beaches on the Mediterranean Sea, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.  This article describes some of them.

Israel narrowly lost 2-1 to Great Britain in the finals of the wheelchair tennis World Team Cup in Sardinia.  Israel had won four world championships previously.

International birdwatchers in Eilat were delighted to spot a long-billed dowitcher in the salt ponds off Israel’s southern coast.  Last seen in Israel in 1984, the dowitcher normally migrates to South and Central America but probably took a wrong turn and headed for Africa instead.

Eurovision artists from 28 different countries visited Israel to perform their original songs live for Israeli fans as a part of Israel Calling 2017. The participants also toured Jerusalem's must-see cultural and religious sites. See other links to Israel’s entry “I Feel Alive” with Imri Ziv.

Upcoming concerts this month include Aerosmith, Paul Young and Jose Gonzales.

For Israel’s 69th birthday on 2nd May, 69 heritage sites will be open for free.  You can also visit four Air Force bases or watch the annual fly-past of 30 planes from 40 cities.  Beaches, barbecues, concerts – see here for details.

The European Judo Union has selected Israel as the host of the 2018 European Judo Championships. The success of the under-23 championships in Tel Aviv in November convinced the EJU to hand Israel the right to organize Europe’s most prestigious competition.

Israel’s Alex Shatilov won the bronze medal in the European Men's Gymnastics Championship held in Romania. It is the seventh European medal for Shatilov. 20-year-old Israeli Artem Dolgopyat also qualified for the finals and finished fourth.

I wrote previously about proud Israeli soccer star Tomer Hemed.  He and Muslim Israeli-Arab team-mate Beram Kayal helped Brighton & Hove Albion win promotion to the English Premier League. Tomer was interviewed by the BBC, which didn’t mention that he is Israeli.