Israel Active

Jerusalem’s Gazelle Valley Nature Park is now open to the public. The 62-acre park contains a female gazelle from the original wild herd that lived in the area, plus others from zoos and their offspring. There are also porcupines, hedgehogs, moles, snakes, insects and 200 species of birds.

Pop legends Duran Duran will be performing in Tel Aviv on 10 June. Lead singer Simon LeBon worked as a volunteer on Kibbutz Gvolot in the 80’s and the band even wrote an instrumental piece called “”.

Richard Gere is in Israel as a guest of the Peres Peace Center and for the filming of Oppenheimer Strategies. Legendary soul and R&B singer Dionne Warwick will perform at Tel Aviv’s Menorah Mivtachim Arena on May 19, where she may just “say a little prayer”. And Art Garfunkel is “Homeward Bound” and will perform at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium on June 10.

The largest Israeli extreme park has just opened, after an investment of NIS 22 million. Park Extreme in Acre (Akko) includes the biggest climbing wall in the Middle East, the highest bungee jump in Israel; air surfing, hanging bridges; and many more facilities that defy gravity.

The 25th annual Haifa International Children’s Theater Festival begins on Apr 5. The al fresco entertainment lineup constitutes 19 shows from nine countries, such as Holland, Spain, Switzerland and Austria, as well as a co-production between Italy and Israel.

TLV/1 radio has this interview with Eli Grunfeld, the artistic director of the first international Yiddish festival in Tel Aviv.

Chana & Shmuel of Galilee Green and Villa Rimona sent me their video of the rare wild iris and other spring flowers on Mount Gilboa in the Galilee.

Israel’s entry for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is Nadav Guedj singing “Golden Boy”.

My good friend Leonie Lachmish and her daughter Yahala reached the quarterfinals of the Israeli Musical Family series on Israeli TV. Although they didn’t win, the jury loved their performance.

A 22-minute history (with music) of the Sefardi Jews told by Yehoram Gaon, considered one of the best Israeli singers.