Arab-Israeli teenagers took to the lacrosse field last week, eager to win the first full-length game they had ever competed in. But the game had loftier goals than athleticism and sportsmanship, with 24 teenagers from opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict brought face to face to foster cultural respect and understanding. The Lacrosse Arab-Jewish Cooperation Project, created by Ian Cohen, is in its first year in Jaffa, Israel. Cohen, currently volunteering in Israel with Jewish service learning …More

Tel Aviv is one of the best beaches to rest your sandals, according to a recent feature by National Geographic. Though it might not be news to Israelis or the Diaspora, the magazine named Tel Aviv Beach number nine on its list of top ten global beaches. The Israeli hot spot joins the likes of Sydney, Rio and Miami Beach. Barcelona pulled in the top ranking, with Cape Town, Honolulu and Nice falling behind. Vancouver won the 10th spot, and Santa Monica joined Honolulu in representing American beach cities on the …More

Israeli President Shimon Peres dropped in on Tel Aviv University recently, to address a gathering of students and faculty. Peres discussed the issue of cyber terrorism at the prestigious Israeli school, urging the future leaders in technology to remain vigilant against abuses of software and tech equipment. “Israel must maintain its qualitative edge in technology and security. The cyber threat is significant and can paralyze an entire country,” Peres said. “Cyber warfare is not a new weapon …More

Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg won a prestigious piano competition on Sunday--the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels. Giltburg, 28, of Tel Aviv, was named the winner in the piano category for his “impeccable and unusually moving rendition of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3,” the Belgian-Jewish magazine Joods Actueel reported. The Moscow-born musician is the second Israeli to win the international competition, which began in 1951; Miriam Fried won in the violin category in …More

As construction workers pass through sandy corridors between huge rectangular buildings at a desalination plant on Israel’s southern coastline, the sound of rushing water resonates from behind a concrete wall. Drawn from deep in the Mediterranean Sea, the water has flowed through pipelines reaching almost 4,000 feet off of Israel’s coast and, once in Israeli soil, buried almost 50 feet underground. Now, it rushes down a tube sending it through a series of filters and purifiers. After 90 minutes, it …More

Yitzhak Perlman and Zubin Mehta kicked off a week of activities set to celebrate the completed renovation of Israel’s philharmonic hall. Perlman, a beloved US-Israeli violinist, and Mehta, the Israeli Philharmonic’s music director, joined together over the weekend for the special performance, supported by the renowned philharmonic. At the performance, attendees heard the strains of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto bouncing off the walls of the Jewish state’s most famous concert …More

“You have night blindness,” the Israeli army doctor announced unsympathetically at my pre-service medical examination. “You’re dismissed from your IDF mandatory army service by law,” he said and called the next soldier-to-be. I was frightened by the diagnosis. I had worn glasses since I was 3, but I never thought I would lose my vision at 18. It turned out not to be as serious as it sounded: My eyes just didn’t get used to darkness as quickly as they should. It took me time …More

Hugs have been scientifically proven to have a calming effect on people, especially those with PTSD, autism or under high stress. Now a new Israeli innovation, BioHug, is offering comfort and stress relief for those who need hugs most. “We’re all familiar with stress, which is associated with lots of health problems,” BioHug CEO Andrew Schiffmiller explained. “For some populations it can be associated with much more severe symptoms – someone with autism under stress may injure …More

Pascale Bercovitch has a firm handshake and a ready smile. She’s hard to keep up with as she takes an elevator to a cafe on the ground floor of her gym in northern Tel Aviv and talks about her hopes to compete in 2016 in Rio De Janeiro. It’s easy to forget that she’s 45 years old and has no legs. “I love to find my limit and push it, to succeed more than I did yesterday,” Bercovitch told JTA. “What interests me is the journey.” For Bercovitch, who has represented Israel …More

On May 8, 1972, Palestinian terrorists hijacked Belgian airliner Sabena Flight 571 en route from Vienna to Tel Aviv. The four terrorists--two men and two women--were part of the Black September terror organization, the same group that, just four months later, would perpetrate the notorious Munich Olympics massacre. Motivation for the hijacking stemmed from lingering anger over Israel’s success during the Six Day War in 1967. Terror organizations were looking to indiscriminately kill Israelis around the …More

At the Western Wall on Friday night, a group of stars from the hit American TV shows "Scandal," and "Once Upon a Time" found themselves immediately recognized by religious Jewish prayer-goers. "People approached us at the Western Wall, saying they watch our shows," said Katie Lowes, who stars in the new American political thriller television series, "Scandal," created by "Grey's Anatomy" head Shonda Rhimes. "It has been an amazing experience, visiting across Israel. But the visit to the Western Wall and the …More

The museum dedicated to the memory of Yitzhak Rabin raises nearly half its money from labor leaders. It’s just not the labor you think. Members of US labor unions raised $1.4 million for the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv last year, 45 percent of the center's total 2012 fundraising. Since 2005, American unions have raised $12 million for the center. Labor leaders say programs at the center, which celebrates the slain Labor Party prime minister who signed the 1993 Oslo Accords and promotes dialogue among …More