Archive | 2012 | April | 30

With almost 11.000 fans on its side Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv dominated the 2012 ABA League final against Cedevita 87-77 and became the champion of the regional league in its eleventh edition. Maccabi is the sixth club since the opening year in ABA League, which won the prestigious title.

Although Cedveita was decided to do anything that the gap in the quality between the two teams will not be seen on the court, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv immediately put in the fastest gear and pulled away already in the first few minutes. In the elevent minute it was leading already 29-11 and although the Croatian team tried to catch it and minimize the difference this proved to be a tough job. Cedveita had also a bad shooting evening. In the 32nd minute its shooting percentage for 2 points was only 18 % (4:22).

Source: AdriaticBasket

Tel Aviv nightlife personality Shimon Shirazi (photo below), who founded ‘FFF,’ the most successful gay-party-line in Tel Aviv, is producing the official Madonna world tour opening party, which will occur during her stay in Israel.

According to Tel Aviv sources, the party is planned for Friday May 25, at the Oman 17 in Tel Aviv harbor, as a special FFF party, and will host the tour’s production people, the dancers, the backup singers, and looks like also queen M herself will be smuggled to the VIP room to watch all of Israel’s leading drag queens perform her songs from throughout the years. Dress code for the party: White.

Shirazi told Israeli media this week: “Madonna is an icon beyond time, and every time she visits our country is a reason for celebration to us. I’m proud to take a part with warming engines before the big show, and it’s going to be an unforgettable party.”

Source: Abbanibi.com

Israeli actors Clara Khoury, Gal Amitay and Jonah Lotan have been cast for season 2 of Showtime’s Golden Globe winning adaptation of Israeli series, “Homeland”, it was confirmed today. Details about their characters were not disclosed but all will be shot during the production’s upcoming visit to the holy land in the coming days, where they will be doing extensive shootings for the sophomore season set to air this fall.

Clara Khoury, the daughter of veteran Arab Israeli film & stage actor Makram Khoury, is best known internationally for her lead in the 2005 film “The Syrian Bride”, and has also appeared in Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies” in 2008, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and fellow Israeli Alon Aboutboul. In Israel she is most notably known for her comedic role on the successful prime time sitcom “Arab Labor (Avoda Aravit)”.

The 38yo Jonah Lotan has been living and working as an actor in the US for over a decade now, having made appearance on “24″, “CSI: NY” and HBO’s “Generation Kill”. Meanwhile the unknown newcomer 26yo Gal Amitay is a student at Yoram Levinstein School of Acting, which is the same place to generate such Israeli stars on the Hollywood horizon Ayelet Zurer and latest arrival Oz Zehavi, who is also rumored to guest on “Homeland”.

The news comes following another award winning weekend for creators Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff who all won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for the pilot episode of the series, which originally aired last fall. Next up on the crew’s social calendar is a special event to be held upon their arrival in Israel by Keshet Broadcasting, which produced the original “Prisoner of War” series three years ago. No Word if die-hard-fan president Barack Obama will be in attendance.

Check out more amazing Israeli news via AbbaNibi

Veteran performer Hiam Abbass will join Ewan McGregor, Diane Kruger and other A-listers on international panel

Arab-Israeli film star Hiam Abbass has been named to the jury of next month’s Cannes Film Festival.

The selection, announced Wednesday, is the latest international honor for Abbass, who won a 2008 Ophir, Israel’s equivalent of the Oscar, for playing a Palestinian woman in the Hebrew/Arabic drama “Lemon Tree.”

The 51-year-old Abbass will join A-list jury members including Ewan McGregor (“Trainspotting,” “Beginners”), Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”) and director Alexander Payne (“The Descendants”). Much of the press coverage about her selection has described her as Palestinian, although the Nazareth-born performer holds Israeli citizenship.

A three-time nominee for the Ophir, Abbass is one of Israel’s highest-profile actors, Jewish or Arab. Twice nominated for a European Film Award, she has starred opposite Natalie Portman and Juliette Binoche (in Israeli director Amos Gitai’s “Free Zone” and “Disengagement,” respectively). Her forays into American filmmaking include a role in 2007 indie favorite “The Visitor,” and a part in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 drama “Munich.”

As a member of the Cannes jury, Abbass will help decide the winner of prizes including the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top honor.

With the exception of Abbass and a short film by a student at Tel Aviv University, Israel will sit out this year’s Cannes festivities.

The 2011 event saw an Israeli film, Joseph Cedar’s “Footnote,” win the festival’s prize for best screenplay

High-tech workers, update your CVs: In the coming weeks, Apple’s Israeli headquarters will be posting dozens of positions to be filled

Preparations for Apple’s Israeli research and development center have kicked into high gear. Mamon has learned that in the next few weeks, Apple will be launching a major hiring campaign. Dozens of personnel ads are expected to be posted for positions in the R&D center, which will be located in Haifa’s Scientific Industries Center (MATAM).

At the end of March, Apple’s international site was already running four ads for engineering positions in Israel. Now it seems that the hiring is picking up both speed and mass. Applicants hired at this stage will join employees of Anobit – which Apple acquired in December 2011 for some $490 million – who are already considered Apple employees.

The new job listings are due to be posted on Apple’s company website. However, the competition is likely to be tough.

As early as February, the Apple site was running a job posting for a “headhunter,” which noted that the job would involve “hiring dozens of candidates simultaneously.” Even before this, Apple was unofficially collecting CVs and sending out feelers for the new R&D center.

The Haifa R&D center will be headed by Aharon Aharon, who will be joined by Etai Zaltsman, the former Deputy CEO of Texas Instruments in Israel. According to reports, Anobit founder Udi Weinstein is expected to leave.

Source: Ynetnews.com

New incentive involves lowering purchase tax on vehicles that pollute less, resulting in a saving of NIS 6,000 to NIS 10,000 for car buyers.

Motorists who buy electric-powered cars and some hybrid cars are to get additional tax benefits in a bid to encourage more Israelis to purchase these greener models, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz announced on Sunday.

The new incentive involves lowering the purchase tax on certain vehicles that pollute less than standard internal-combustion vehicles, resulting in a saving of NIS 6,000 to NIS 10,000 for car buyers.

Under the new policy the tax on electric cars is being cut from 10 percent to 8 percent this year and next.

When it comes to hybrid cars, which run on a combination of electricity and gasoline, purchase tax will remain at 30 percent, but it was slated to go up to 45 percent.

Cars that run on a combination of gasoline and rechargeable batteries, which are called “plug-in” vehicles, will be subject to a lower, 20 percent purchase tax this year and next – a rate that will then gradually increase.

Finance Ministry officials say the benefits for Israeli car buyers who take advantage of the incentives are collectively worth NIS 130 million over the next several years.

Initial pro-environment tax rates were introduced about three years ago. The newly announced incentives are expected to result in cleaner air, with incidental benefits to the country including, for example, lower medical costs for respiratory illnesses.

Hybrid vehicles emit up to 50 percent less air pollution. Use of battery-powered vehicles can result in even more substantial pollution reduction, but the extent of the improvement depends on the source of the electricity used to power the cars, taking into account pollution generated at the electric power plant. Electric cars themselves, however, don’t emit air pollution and therefore result in immediate benefits in urban areas, where air pollution is a major cause of illness and even death.

Source: Haaretz.com

Aid App Art Award Canada Cancer Coexistence Competition Concert Economy Environment Europe Fashion Festival Film Food Funny Gay Green Hollywood India Innovation Innovation Israel Jerusalem Jewish LGBTQ London2012 Music Nightlife Obama Olympics Party Peace Photography Pride Research Science Sports Tel Aviv Toronto Tourism Travel TV Video

WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck requires Flash Player 9 or better.