Israel Active

Quite a few events to interest Jerusalemites this week including the early flowering of the capital’s almond trees, US President Trump’s inauguration, and Walter Bingham’s 101st birthday.  Ad 120, Walter.

Yuval Raphael, is Israel’s representative for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2025. Raphael, 24, won the "Rising Star" competition on Jan 22, singing ABBA’a Dancing Queen. She survived the Oct 7 2023 Nova music festival when Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people.

Haimro Alame (34) won the Chevron Marathon in downtown Houston in 2:08:17 - the first Israeli victory in the Houston Marathon’s history. He celebrated by waving Israel’s flag, saying, “the win is not for me but for my country”. Alame immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia with his parents 20 years ago.

Israel is basking in the warmest winter for many years. In the sunshine the first almond tree of the season has bloomed in the KKL-JNF’s Mevo Hamma Forest in the Golan Heights, at least three weeks before the traditional start of Spring on Tu Bishvat. (New Year for Trees).

The streets of Jerusalem are quiet in the warm winter sunshine. But building continues and the holy city echoes with prayers and hope for the return of more hostages.

400+ bereaved Israeli youth had a Chanukah surprise when Fauda star and singer/songwriter Idan Amedi arrived by helicopter for a private performance at their Kibbutz Revivim winter camp. The kids also went “sandboarding”, rappelling, and had therapeutic sessions.

Due to a “navigation” error, three Israeli snowboarders were trapped at the summit of a freezing mountain in Japan for nearly 24 hours. The men, who are all IDF reservists, couldn’t be rescued immediately because of weather conditions. So they built an igloo and huddled together to stay warm.

Maccabi Israel Sports Experience has brought a team of half a dozen young talented internation basketball players to live, train and play at Maccabi World Union’s campus in Ramat Gan,  Israel. Several have long-term dreams of playing in Israel professionally.

Travel + Leisure Readers’ 10 Favorite Cities in Africa and the Middle East of 2024 included Jerusalem at number 3 and Tel Aviv at number 8.

The Desert Sculpture Park lies just east of Mitzpeh Ramon on the edge of the Ramon Crater. The 22 works were created by local and international artists who used the large, heavy rocks found locally to excite the senses.  It was established in 1962, renovated in 1986, and made accessible in 2021.