Israel Active

Israeli director Guy Nattiv and British actor Helen Mirren received a Dove Award from the Cinema for Peace Foundation for their joint work in the 2023 biopic “Golda,” in which Mirren stars as Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel. Nattiv and Mirren received the awards in Berlin.

Although he retired in 2019 after 50 years of conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (see previously), he has returned as guest conductor for eight concerts.  But be quick – the last one is on March 5.

Israeli American designer Kobi Halperin held his very first own label show for New York Fashion Week. His Fall 2024 collection, entitled “Illumination of Hope,” ended with an instrumental version of “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem, which translates to “The Hope.”

In the Seville Marathon, Israel’s Gashau Ayale finished third in 2:04.53, breaking the Israeli record and qualified for the Paris Olympics. At the Zagreb Kickboxing European Cup, there were gold medals (again) for Yulia Sachkov and Deniz Serebyanikov and another for Karolina Chorny.

Interesting article and interview with Israel’s Alon Day (see previously), winner of NASCAR’s Whelen Euro Series, in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022. He talks about his career ambitions, but also about his pro-Israel activism. He singles out the support of Christian Zionists.

Israeli NBA star Deni Avdija scored a game-best and career-high 43 points for his Washington Wizards basketball team. He became the first Wizard to score 40-plus points and 15-plus rebounds in a game since Moses Malone accomplished that feat on Jan. 12, 1987. Despite this, the Wizards lost the game.

Maccabi Haifa beat Gent 2-1 on aggregate to advance to the Europa Conference League round of 16.

The Israel Premier–Tech Cycling Team won the 8-day “Tour of Rwanda” race with Israel’s Itamar Einhorn wining the second stage. It marked one year after the building of Rwanda’s “Field of Dreams” cycling center, with funds from supporters of the team. The team went on to win stage 1 of the Tour des Alpes.

At the European Women’s Weightlifting Championships in Sofia, Israel’s Celia Henna Gold won the silver medal for the Clean & Jerk in the 71kg category. In the 76kg category, Israel’s Nicole Rubanovich also won silver.

Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko finished runner-up in the women’s 400-meter individual medley at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar. She ignored boos from Hamas-supporting spectators and dedicated her medal to a childhood friend, Matan Angrest – held hostage in Gaza.