Israel Active

Canada’s Cirque du Soleil enchanted Israelis last summer with its show "Alegria". It returns to Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena between 6th and 16th Aug 2014 with ten performances of the award-winning production "Quidam," seen already by more than 10 million viewers worldwide.

Israel-born actress Gal Gadot is set to star as Wonder Woman in a Warner Bros superhero film featuring Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman. Director Zac Snyder said that Gadot “has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role."

Israel’s original hit series “Hostages” will be broadcast on BBC Four in Hebrew with English sub-titles. It is the first time that the BBC has shown an Israeli series. Meanwhile, Channel Four will show the US remake in which the family of a woman surgeon is taken hostage in order to coerce her into killing the US President.

The International Winter Soccer Tournament for Youths will be held at Netanya’s new 13,800-capacity stadium. Teams from Serbia, Germany, Moldova and (of course) Israel will participate and entrance is free of charge.

The bright red calaniot (anemones) that cover the country's southern fields each spring have now become Israel's national flower. In an online election campaign held by the Society for the Protection of Nature (SPNI) and Ynet, the anemone attracted 28 per cent of the vote.

(Thanks to Jacob Richman) In 1913 French aviator Jules Vedrines landed his Bleriot XI in the pre-State Land of Israel, near the beach in Tel Aviv. New Israeli stamps celebrate this event, plus two of the Israeli aircraft developed since, the Zukit and the Heron I UAV.

British new wave and punk legend Gary Numan will arrive in Israel this winter to perform at Tel Aviv's Barby Club on February 10. Numan's first song as an solo artist, “Cars” was released in 1979 and made it to the top of the charts. Over the next decades he released more than 20 albums

Arik Einstein, who died last week, was Israel’s most popular singer and songwriter. We learnt his iconic song “Ani v’Ata” (Me and You) at ulpan (Hebrew language school).

The NIS 2 Silver Proof commemorative coin in the UNESCO “World Heritage Sites” series issued by the Bank of Israel and dedicated to the water supply system at Tel Megiddo has won a prize at the tenth annual Vicenza Numismatica International Competition held in the city of Vicenza, Italy. It was chosen as the “Most Beautiful Architectural Representation on a Coin Minted in 2012”.

Another unique performance from Rabbis Arie and Gil Gat.