Israel Active

“Cycling Academy” is the first Israeli team to enter America’s top cycling event - the USA Pro Challenge - America’s equivalent of the Tour de France. In its first year, Cycling Academy has won stages of the Tour d’Azerbaijan, the Tour de Berlin and the Visegrad 4.

Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko became the first-ever Israeli woman (and the second Israeli) to win a World Championships athletics silver medal when she came second in the triple jump in China. Her second round jump of 14.78 meters broke the Israeli record.

Israel’s Golan Pollack won the bronze medal in the under 66kg category at the World Judo Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 23-year-old (23rd in the world) beat Davaadorj of Mongolia by landing a yuko with just 5 seconds. See the video for Pollack’s patriotic reaction at 6:15 mins.

Rotem, a sand cat at the Ramat Gan Safari, has given birth to three kittens. The sand cat is the only species of cat able to survive in total deserts but now exists mostly in captivity.

Nisim Nir, of the Omer Regional Council is planning a new 18-hole golf course in the Negev. It will provide a venue for tourism and for company executives at the nearby Omer Industrial Park and Beer Sheva Technology Park to conclude business deals. And make the desert bloom even more.

The International Bat Yam Festival features theater, circus, clowns, acrobats, music parades and more. It also includes the French show Les Girafes, featuring eight-meter high giraffes. You can also camp for free on the beach.

A new film is to be released shortly of the 1972 dramatic rescue, by Israel’s elite Israeli Sayeret Matkal unit, of hostages on a high-jacked Sabena airlines plane. The unit included current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former PM Ehud Barak. Both enjoyed the movie premier.

Amateur drone pilot Jesse Peters flew an aerial quadcopter over Israel’s Apollonia National Park near Herzliya to capture a bird’s-eye perspective of its limestone cliffs. See the 13th-century fortress, remains of a Roman villa, and a self-built “hobbit” home carved into the cliff by artist Nissim Kahlon.

Three months after being named European champion, 91-year-old Israeli long-distance runner Semion Simkin won the world championship for senior runners in Lyon, France. Simkin finished the 6.2 miles in 1:20:01, over 21 minutes ahead of the runner up.

Israeli athletes this week won 62 medals at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu congratulated all the athletes, saying “Even those who did not win, to reach the games and compete, this says that you have something special”.