Israel Active

Deni Avdija became the first Israeli player to reach the NBA playoffs, scoring 41 points - including a three-point play with 16.1 seconds remaining - as his Portland Trail Blazers rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat Phoenix Suns 114-110 in the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament.  

A year ago, Israel’s Daniel Peretz joined Southampton – a team struggling in the second tier of English soccer. His goalkeeping performance has rocketed Southampton into a promotion contender and helped defeat Premier division Arsenal to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

At  the FIG Acrobatic Gymnastics World Cup, held in Puurs, Belgium, Israeli gymnasts Shiraz Sokolowski and Ronnie Cohen won the gold medal in the Women’s Pair. Uri Dekel, Ronnie Rothman and Ard Avir Deutsch won silver in the Men’s Group/Trio.

Israel’s Under 17 soccer team continued its 100% success in the UEFA League B group B1 matches. After defeating Estonia 2-0, they beat England 3-1. They then went on to beat Faroe Islands 4-0 to qualify for the U19 tournament League A in 2027/28.

At  the FIG Acrobatic Gymnastics World Cup, held in Puurs, Belgium, Israeli gymnasts Shiraz Sokolowski and Ronnie Cohen won the gold medal in the Women’s Pair. Uri Dekel, Ronnie Rothman and Ard Avir Deutsch won silver in the Men’s Group/Trio.

Three-time Hungarian women’s chess champion Tícia Gara moved to Tel Aviv-Jaffa during the Gaza war. She left home to embrace life in the Jewish homeland. She’d previously volunteered with disabled adults through the Jewish Agency’s Tikkun Olam program.

When the Brooklyn Nets hosted the Portland Trail Blazers at the Barclays Center, Portland’s Israeli star Deni Avdija uniquely faced Brooklyn’s Danny Wolf and Ben Saraf, both Israeli citizens. The crowd waved Israeli and US flags and some wore hats written in Hebrew.

Israeli Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics at the 2026 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany.

Over 50,000 runners participated in the Tel Aviv Marathon on Friday, making it the largest in the nation's history. Five of the runners were brought to the medical tent for heatstroke. They were immediately treated with ice baths to lower body temperature.

In the pre-match weigh-in, Turkey’s Ali Koyuncu illegally kicked Israeli Thai boxer Ahavat Hashem Gordon. In the actual contest, in Lithuania, Gordon won in two rounds. In the second link, see him visiting wounded IDF soldiers at Belev Echad. Ahavat’s brother is Ruach (see previously).