Israel Active

The Asian lion, Syrian brown bear, Nile crocodile and Persian fallow deer are among the animals mentioned in the Bible that have been saved and are thriving thanks to Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo.

Jewish singing legend Barbara Streisand will perform in Israel for the first time ever. She will sing at Israeli President Shimon Peres’ 90th birthday on June 18 at the opening of the Presidential Conference. She will also perform twice at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on June 15 and 16.

The line-up for 2013 includes Ravi Coltrane (Apr 23-24). Shuggi Otis (May 1), Depeche Mode (May 7), Liars (Jun 15) and Alice Keys (July 4). Check

The legendary composer and pianist, Yanni will be making his first ever performance of Jazz, classical and soft rock in Israel, on June 19 at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv. This video is of a 2006 performance of the aptly named number (in view of Israel’s recent abundance of water) “Rainmaker”.

Israel’s entry for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest on May 15th will be Moran Mazor. You can listen here to her singing “Only for him”.

For the third consecutive time, and the fourth in her life, Israeli windsurfer Lee Korzits took first place at the RS-X World Championships in Buzios, Brazil on Tuesday. Fellow Israeli Maayan Davidovich won bronze. It was the first time that two Israelis stood on the winners’ podium.

2012 data provided by Israel’s police indicates a major boost in Kotel tourism compared to 2011. The data includes regular worshipers and the many thousands who come for special prayer services on holidays as well as tourists and other visitors.

(Thanks to SDM) If you visit South By South West in Austin Texas next week, you will get an opportunity to hear performances from some of the best Israeli groups.

Here is the full video of Iranian-born Israeli singer Rita’s concert at the United Nations.