Israel Active

Israeli Judoka Olympic bronze medalist Yarden Gerbi auctioned her signed Olympic uniform nametag and raised 196,000 shekels (over $50,000) to support children suffering from cancer at the Dana Children’s Hospital in Tel Aviv.

In under 3 mins, this video shows how easy tourists can go from Israel’s holy sites through to experiencing floating in the Dead Sea, skiing, Tel Aviv, wineries, clubs, bars, hiking, the desert, the beaches, Masada, the people and of course the food.  And it’s so safe.

They didn’t win a medal for it, but the outfits of Israel’s Olympic team were impressive.  Their stylish blue-and-white athletic jackets were a real hit.

Israeli artist, architect and designer Ron Arad has three major public artworks on display in London, plus a solo exhibition at a Mayfair gallery. His exhibit “Spyre” is a 16-meter high, constantly moving steel sculpture in the Royal Academy’s Annenberg Courtyard.

The UK’s Telegraph featured the new East-London restaurant “Struck & Cluck” owned by Israel’s Amir Chen.  It also mentioned Barbary in Covent Garden, Honey & Co in Warren Street and Shwarma Bar in Exmouth Market – all run by Israelis.

70-year-old American-born iconic opera singer Jessye Norman received Israel’s coveted Wolf Prize for Music. Poor health prevented her from collecting it last year and she almost missed out again this year, arriving in an electric wheelchair after fracturing her ankle.

A beautiful rendition of “Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim” (If I forget you Jerusalem) by KOLture Shock. Signalling the end of the sadness of the Three Weeks between the fasts of Tammuz and Av.

A new special sightseeing tour is aimed to show that Haifa has much more to offer than the visit of the famous Bahai Gardens: With the Haifa Street Food tours you can experience the city with your taste buds.

Israeli judokas won two bronze medals at the Rio Olympics – the first medals since 2008.  Yarden Gerbi won bronze in the women’s under 63kg class.  And Ori Sasson won bronze in the men’s over 100kg event.

Carlos Santana performed in front of 25,000 fans in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park.  Israellycool has published dozens of video clips. Santana’s encore included “Exodus” and “Hava Nagila”.