Israel Active

This new biography is about renowned Israeli cardiac surgeon Professor Joseph Borman. One of his accomplishments was to save the life of critically injured soldier Doron Lancet during the 1967 Six-Day War. Doron went on to lead the Israeli team that helped map the human genome.

Jerusalem’s municipality is to invest NIS 22 million to encourage more film and television production within the capital. The television series Dig, co-written by Gideon Raff of Homeland fame, will be the first production to benefit from the initiative.

Israel was placed in Group B for the qualifying stages of the European Nations Cup 2016, with Wales, Belgium, Andorra, Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The top two teams will qualify for the championship round.

Israel has just held its second annual benefit concert for Beit HaRav Kook, in honor of Israel's first Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook.

(Thanks to Jacob Richman) The latest beautiful Israeli postage stamps feature the City of David, Atlid detention camp, Independence hall, Acre, craters, ancient synagogues and more.

8-year-old Alma Deutscher plays beautifully piano, violin, improvises, composed an opera and discusses her music in Hebrew and English. I couldn’t resist watching all 28 minutes.

British band Deep Purple performs at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena on Feb 22 and 23. Deep Purple are considered, along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, to be the top hard rock and heavy metal bands in Britain in the early 1970?s and is ranked by Planet Rock as the fifth most influential band ever. The group will also appear on the Israeli TV drama series “Atlantica”, about a struggling Jerusalem Rock band.

Israel’s Niv Adiri won a British Academy of Film and Television award for his work in the team responsible for the groundbreaking sound work on the blockbuster “Gravity.” The team has also been nominated for an Oscar.

Israel will host the FIBA 3-on-3 under-18 World Championship basketball tournament in 2015. The Basketball Association of Israel (IBBA) is one of the most active national federations in the development of 3-on-3 basketball.

Nineteen celebrated French chefs have arrived in Israel to launch the second annual “So French So Tasty week”. The chefs will cook in the kitchens of Israel's most popular restaurants. In addition, the chefs will hold cooking workshops for the public, cooking competitions, and winery tours.