Israel Active

Israeli sprinter Blessing Afrifa won the gold medal in the Men’s 200 meters at the U23 European Championships in Finland recently.  Blessing previously won gold at the U20 World Championships in Aug 2022, which this editor missed by being on holiday, last year!

Israeli para-swimmer Ami Dadaon clinched four gold medals at the Allianz Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester. He won the men’s 200m freestyle, the 150m individual medley, the 50m freestyle and the 100m freestyle in which he broke the world record.

Israel’s Iddo Gefen, a neuroscience researcher and writer, won the $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature. His debut short-story collection Jerusalem Beach fuses the humor of everyday life in Israel with technology's challenges and the latest discoveries about the human brain.

The Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv is displaying “A Picture of Nature,” a photo exhibit of the unique wildlife of Israel. The 60 photographs and four video works were selected from 4,000+ entries from 410 photographers and can be viewed until 14th Oct.

Michael Woods, of the Israel Premier Tech cycling team, won Stage 9 of the Tour de France. Woods outclimbed everybody on the steep percentages on Puy de Dôme. This is Israel – Premier Tech’s third Tour de France stage victory, after two stage wins last year.

An Israeli team of three, plus their coach, are competing in the FIFAe soccer video game World Cup which this year is being held in Riyadh. The Israeli team is ranked 2nd in the world. The opening ceremony is expected to feature Israel’s National Anthem.

Israeli hit period drama The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem (see previously) returned to Netflix for its second season on July 14. The period drama is set against the backdrop of Jerusalem under Ottoman, British and Israeli rule. Series 2 aired previously on Israel’s Yes TV network.

The 9th annual Jerusalem Jazz Festival brought together musicians from all over the world. The performances took place at multiple locations around the Israel Museum. Artists came from the USA, Morocco, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Senagal, and Mali.

Israel’s Under 21 soccer team beat Georgia on penalties in the quarterfinals of the UEFA championships. By doing so, they qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games as one of the top 3 teams in the tournament. It is the first Olympic appearance of an Israeli soccer team since 1976.

David Draiman, the lead singer of American hard rock group Disturbed, showed his Jewish and Israeli pride during a passionate performance at the Tel Aviv Expo. Draiman, who attended US Jewish day schools and trained as a cantor, often shouted “I can’t hear you!” in Hebrew to encourage the crowd.