Israel Active

The desert city of Arad has changed since the article’s author first visited in 1989. Its coffee bars, healthy environment, wellness therapy, art studios, wineries, brewery, restaurants, hiking trails, hotels and glamping sites provide plenty to interest tourists and visiting Israelis.  Search “Travel Arad Israel” for more.

Israeli writer Iddo Gefen has won the $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for his short-story collection, “Jerusalem Beach.” Iddo is a cognitive psychology doctoral student at Columbia University. His book is a series of snapshots of contemporary life in Israel - some to become movies.

The fields surrounding Israel’s Hula Lake are currently covered in Pink Lady butterflies enroute from the Arabian peninsula to Europe. Its an intergenerational migration, as the butterflies that arrived from Saudi Arabia lay eggs in Israel that eventually turn into butterflies that continue onto Europe.

Israeli sports-tech company WSC Sports (see previously) won an “AI-ML Curation of Sports Highlights” award at the 74th Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards. The awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

With its colors matching the Israeli flag, the common blue butterfly has been voted Israel’s national butterfly. It joins the hoopoe (national bird), the anemone (national flower), the olive (national tree), and the Canaan dog (national dog), as symbols. Tens of thousands of Israeli schoolchildren voted.

The Technion UK will be holding an event in London on May 15 to celebrate Israel’s 75th Anniversary. All proceeds from the show will go towards funding the Integrated Cancer Research Centre at the Technion.

Israeli performances this summer include Shlomo Artzi, Gidi Gov, Static, Nunu, Marina Maximillian, Idan Raichel, Ishay Ribo, and Chava Alberstein. International stars include Backstreet Boys, Robbie Williams, Sam Smith, Papa Roach, Guns N’ Roses, The Black Keys, Buddy Guy, & Imagine Dragons.

GIST, Italy's foremost tourism press agency, has awarded the ACTA Archeological and Cultural Award for the best foreign archeological site, to Caesarea. Israel’s northern city was chosen for its coastal harbor, underwater sites and scientific and archeological studies taking place there.

Israel’s M&H Distillery (Milk and Honey – see previously) won “Best Single Malt Whisky in the World” for its Element Sherry Cask at the prestigious World Whiskies Awards 2023 competition in Britain. It beat thousands of whiskies from the world’s top distilleries.

150+ participants from as far afield as Colombia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Finland, and the UK competed in Israel to photograph as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. They raised over $35,000 to protect the illegally hunted rare, red-breasted goose. The winning group photographed 181 different species.