Israel Active

Amar’e Stoudemire, the New York Knicks star, is seeking Israeli citizenship. Stoudemire came to Israel to help coach Canada’s basketball team in the recent Maccabiah games. He is also part owner of Israeli basketball club Hapoel Jerusalem.

Barcelona FC took a break from pre-season training to hold a two-day “peace tour” in the holy land with Israeli and Palestinian Arab kids. A favorite among Israeli and Palestinian Arab fans, the Barcelona team included Lionel Messi, regarded as one of the best players in the game.

(Thanks to Israel21c) A new International Center for the Study of Bird Migration building at Latrun is being built to encourage tourists to watch some of the 1 billion birds that will fly over Israel in the coming 12 months.

(Thanks to Israel21c) The 22nd International Puppet Theater Festival in Jerusalem will stage over 125 performances – the largest puppet event in Israel’s history. The main themes this year are the Far East and trains. The Royal Thai Embassy is sponsoring the highlight performance “Lunar Eclipse”.

The two-day Jerusalem Beer Festival starts pulling pints on 7th August in Independence Park. 120 beers, street shows, live bands and other great attractions. From 6pm till 11pm on both days.

The 19th Maccabiah Games will be the largest sports event in the world after the Olympics and the FIFA soccer world cup. 9,000 athletes from 72 countries will compete in Israel from July 18-30.

Gal Mekel is set to become the second Israeli to play in the National Basketball Association after agreeing to a three-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Omri Caspi, who in 2009 became the first Israeli in the NBA, recently signed with the Houston Rockets.

Israel’s Tommy Arshansky won gold in the under 60kg category at the European Cup. Meanwhile, Yarden Gerbi won gold in the under 57 kg event at the Moscow Grand Slam. Israelis also won bronze medals at both events.

Before David Cohen demolished his house, his daughter invited 85 Israeli artists to transform it, and raise money for children’s charities.

For the first time, the Israeli Opera is hosting the Bolshoi Opera House from Moscow, one of the world's leading opera houses and the biggest in Russia. It will be performing Tchaikovsky's masterpiece, "Yevgeny Onegin," perhaps the most "Russian" opera of all times.