Israel Active

The 18-month-old Israeli Lacrosse team beat Wales 14-13 in their first European Championships. The unranked Israelis were thrashed by Holland in the quarterfinals but they did well to finish at least eighth in their first International tournament.

The 2012 Jerusalem festival of light featured some mesmerising displays. Jaffa Gate, Damascus Gate, Earth Harp, the Davidson Centre and Zedekiah’s cave illuminated Israel’s capital city.

50,000 people attended the Israeli Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen at the ancient desert fortress of Masada by the Dead Sea. The high notes were sung at the lowest point on Earth and when Carmen died on stage, the whole mountain was floodlit in a chilling blood red. Next year – Puccini’s Turandot.

London hosts “Seret”, the UK’s first-ever Israeli film festival celebrating the contribution that Israeli film and television has made and the diversity of its projects. The festival is the brainchild of Odelia Haroush, a former manager of the Ahava cosmetics store in London.

Rita Jahanforuz, 50 years old, is Israel's most famous female singer—and suddenly she's big in Iran. Iranian-born and fluent in Persian, Rita’s album went gold in Israel in just three weeks, despite being sung entirely in Persian. It also propelled Rita onto the music scene in Iran.

Israel’s chess grandmaster Boris Gelfand was just one game short of beating the world champion Viswanathan Anand at the Chess World Championship in Moscow. The Indian won 2.5 to 1.5 in the 4 tie-break “blitz” games after a thrilling final in which the matches were tied 6-6.

(thanks to Janglo). A broad spectrum of entertainment is available to visitors to the Jewish State this month. From Carmen at Masada to sixties band The Doors, to heavy metal band Sceptic Flesh. But don’t miss White Night Tel Aviv on 28th June.

British comic actor John Cleese has signed on to a film by Israeli director Reshef Levi. Cleese will play a disgraced, eccentric British lord in the heist comedy Hunting Elephants, in which three Israeli senior citizens help a 12-year-old boy hatch a plan to rob a bank in order to save his family home.

Here are some photos of the eight US actors touring Israel with America’s Voices in Israel (AVI). On their last day, they had a martial arts class at the Inbal Hotel Jerusalem.

Jonathan Frederick Togo and Omar Benson Miller (stars of CSI: Miami) and Carmine Giovinazzo and AJ Buckley (stars of CSI: NY) will visit Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea, Masada and the Galilee among other sites. It is the first time any of the actors have visited the Jewish State.