Israel Active

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”.

Rapper Kanye West will perform in Israel on Sept. 30 in Ramat Gan's stadium. Three months ago, Kanye visited the Jewish state with his wife, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, and their daughter North, who was baptized at an Armenian church in Jerusalem.

Enthusiasts of the amber nectar should make their way to Independence Park in Jerusalem on Aug 26 to sample over 150 different beers at the Jerusalem Beer Festival. There will also be food and entertainment from live bands including Hadag Nahash.

Stav Singer and Iddan Golomb from Tel Aviv University, won the gold trophy in the English as a second language category at the European Universities Debating Championship in Vienna. Six Israeli teams successfully fought through to join 700 competitors in the knockout rounds.

Israel senior national team member Dean Kremer became the first Israeli to ever be selected in the US Major League Baseball draft, being chosen by the San Diego Padres.