Israel Active

Noam Sasson has come joint-first in the European Rapid Chess Championship 2023 under-10s in Slovenia, following the conclusion of a day and a half of games. He previously won the European School Chess Championships 2022 and is a graduate of the "Chess4all" chess club (see previously).

For the first time, Israel’s women won the Venice Cup at the 46th World Bridge Championships in Marrakech, Morocco, beating Turkye in the final. The competition took place at the end of August, shortly before the Sept 8 earthquake.

See the latest video showing the beautiful Valley of Hennom in Jerusalem (see previously) which the City of David organization has transformed from the Valley of Hell into a family-friendly park, that was enjoyed by many during the recent Festival of Sukkot.

Bruno Mars was able to make his first appearance in Israel on Oct 4. The US pop superstar, accompanied by his band The Hooligans, wowed the 60,000 sold-out crowd for almost two hours at Tel Aviv’s Park Hayarkon. (His second concert scheduled for Oct 7 was cancelled.)

The series, Bros, an 8-episode Hebrew-language comedy-drama available exclusively on Netflix starts Nov 9. It will be shown in 190 countries.  Bros tells the story of inseparable childhood friends, co-owners of a local Jerusalem bar, and die-hard Beitar Jerusalem soccer fans.

Israel has approved the creation of a new, 90-square-kilometer (35-square-mile) nature reserve at Ramat Mazar in the Negev Desert in southern Israel. The area is home to several species unique to Israel, e.g., the Nubian ibex, dorcas gazelle, desert tawny owl and Blanford’s fox.

Israel’s national tennis team scored a surprise 3-2 win against Japan in the Davis Cup World Group, advancing to playoffs that could see it reach the tournament’s final 16. Singles wins by Daniel Zukerman and Yishai Oliel on Sunday overcame a 2-1 deficit.

Team Israel advanced to the quarterfinals of the European Baseball Championship on Tuesday with an 11-8 victory over Belgium in Prague. Israel eventually finished in sixth place in the competition.

Israel’s Yulia Chernoy won her first gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event at the World Parasport Shooting Championships in Lima.

Israel’s IDF disabled veterans increased their tally of medals from five (see previously) to fourteen by the end of their first Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany. They added another two more table tennis golds including in the men’s doubles finals between two Israeli pairs.