Israel Active

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war, IDF singer Orr Amrami sang an AI-powered “duet” with the late Leonard Cohen.  In 1973, Cohen made a special trip to Israel to perform for soldiers at the front.

The Israeli Artists Project is holding the Stav Festival, named after the Hebrew word for “fall” or “autumn”, from Sep 28 to Oct 29 in New York City. It features 100-plus Israeli artists, a mix of theatrical plays, live music, an art exhibit, children’s activities, and interactive workshops.

Jerusalem’s hi-tech National Library of Israel is opening in Oct. The 46,000 sqm building has 11 floors and cost NIS 860 million. It will house over 4 million books, photos, newspapers, collections, maps, manuscripts, posters, records, tapes, plus millions of digitized documents & recordings.

Disabled IDF veterans participated for the first time in the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf. Israel sent 20 veterans to compete in swimming, cycling, archery, table tennis and indoor rowing.  The team won 5 medals including a gold and a silver in table tennis.

Israel’s national soccer team scored in the 93rd minute to beat Belarus 1-0 and keep them in contention to qualify for the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship.

Israel will host the Tel Aviv Watergen Open on Nov. 5-11, in which top-ranked tennis superstars from around the world will compete for a $1 million prize pool. Last year’s tournament saw Novak Djokovic defeat Marin Cilic in the final. Some 4,500 spectators are expected.

Israeli hit television show Fauda is set to return to the screen for an unexpected Season 5. Season 4 was meant to be the series’ grand finale, but the show’s producers and cable provider YES have agreed to continue for another season. Thanks to Netflix, Fauda was the top TV show in Lebanon and Qatar.

Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastasia Mayers made history when they won a trip to become the first mother and daughter to go to the edge of space. Keisha, who is married to an Israeli, proudly wore the Israeli flag on her spacesuit aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity. (see Keisha on the BBC video at 1:40 & 2:20)

The Israeli karate delegation won six gold, one silver and four bronze medals at the Aug 2023 SKIF Shotokan Karate World Games in Hungary.

Israel’s Under 17 boys flag football team won gold at the inaugural IFAF Flag Football European Youth Championships in Grosseto, Italy. The team refused to play one match on Shabbat and were severely penalized. Despite this, they advanced to the semi-finals and finals.