Israel Active

Whilst Israeli soccer legend Yossi Benayoun was returning to his roots, Israel’s next generation of soccer stars was proving its worth. Israel qualified for next month’s Uefa European under-19 Championships finals in Hungary with a 1-0 victory over Georgia.

Israeli companies NICE systems and RISCO are supplying Brazil with key security and management technology that officials are counting on to keep the peace during the World Cup soccer tournament.

A new partnership between the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the State Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg means some of Russia’s most important cultural treasures will be available for local Israeli audiences to view. The two museums will exchange masterpieces in 2015.

Mick Jagger spoke Hebrew and English to 50,000 Israelis during a concert of 19 unforgettable songs in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park. Most band members are older than the State of Israel, yet they never missed a beat, and Jagger was in perpetual motion.

Zohar Sharon, 61, has now won the World Blind Golf Championship for the fourth time in a row (his previous victories were in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Zohar tells of the reason he went blind at age 24 and how he learned subsequently to play golf.

(Thanks to algemeiner.com) TravelSupermarket.com rates Tel Aviv the sixth most popular destination according to travelers using its site and those using Twitter.

American pop star Justin Timberlake rocked tens of thousands of fans in Park Hayarkon during his first-ever Israel concert. Before the event he prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem - the photo posted on his facebook site received over 250,000 likes.

"Paris on the Water," by Tel Aviv University master's student Hadas Ayalon, is one of three winners in the foreign film category of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 41st Student Academy Awards competition. The award will be presented on 7 June in Los Angeles.

Ronnie Wood, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, revealed that Bob Dylan put the idea in the Stones' circle to include Israel as a tour stop. “He said he loved it there," said Wood. "I said, we've never been there, so we'll have to go play there one day, so there you go.”

Israel’s Zohar Sharon won the ISPS HANDA World Blind Golf Championship title for a fifth consecutive time, in Port Stephens, New South Wales, Australia. Sharon lost his sight during his IDF service and caddie Shimshon Levi tells him exactly what shot is required.