Celebrity Grapevine

ONE OF Jerusalem's main arteries is called Rehov Hatzanhanim (Paratroopers Road) in honor of the paratroopers who recaptured the Old City from Jordanian rule in June 1967.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
ONE OF Jerusalem's main arteries is called Rehov Hatzanhanim (Paratroopers Road) in honor of the paratroopers who recaptured the Old City from Jordanian rule in June 1967. Those paratroopers, and the soldiers from other units who fought to reunify Jerusalem, will be honored on Monday in a special broadcast on Israel Television and on Radio's Reshet Bet from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Already 40 Years marks the conclusion of the united capital's 40th anniversary celebrations and will feature Israela Asago, Ehud and Shahar Ariel, Shlomo Baraba, Adi Bar-LevDavid De'Or, Guy Zuaretz, Shiri Maimon, Harel Skaat, the Next Step band, the Central Command entertainment unit and, of course, Shuli Natan - whose rendition of "Jerusalem of Gold" is arguably the best-known Hebrew song after "Hatikva." For 12 hours before the broadcast, Israel Radio's Reshet Gimmel, in cooperation with the Libi fund that works for the welfare of Israel's soldiers, will interview soldiers currently serving in the IDF along with those who served in the Six Day War and will play their favorite songs. n ALTHOUGH HE has yet to become a household name, Lior Geller of Tel Aviv University is on his way. Geller was selected as one of five finalists in the Foreign Film category of the 35th Annual Student Academy Awards held by Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. First introduced in December 1973, the award was instituted to help advance the film arts through educational activities and to stimulate and encourage excellence in filmmaking among university students. Though a finalist, Geller did not win for his film, Roads. The story, set in Lod, tells of a 13-year-old boy who searches for a new life outside the city's Arab, drug-ridden slums. There were many Jewish names among finalists in other categories, too - one of whom, J.J. Adler of Columbia University, made a specifically Jewish documentary. Unattached gives viewers insights into the attitudes of New York's modern Orthodox community and the "singles crisis." Adler is among those who will receive an award at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on June 7. n ISRAELI-BORN actress Natalie Portman, who lives in New York and has spent most of her life in America, nonetheless likes to come back to Israel as often as she can. She even spent a stint as a student at the Hebrew University, where, despite having already achieved international fame, she hung out with other students without putting on airs and graces. Now, after completing her task as an adjudicator at the Cannes Film Festival, Portman casually paid a fleeting visit to Israel without any fanfare. She was accompanied by her current beau, freaky folk singer Devendra Banhart, to whom she introduced the pleasure of cleaning up a dish of humous with a pita. n ACTRESS, MODEL, former Miss Israel and currently the chief presenter for Castro fashions Gal Gadot and her significant other, Yaron Versano, have set the date for making their relationship more official. They plan to marry at the end of September and are checking out wedding halls. n WHAT GOES around comes around. Emanuel Rosen and Gadi Sukenik, who are both expatriates of the Channel 2 News, might be returning to that particular genre of the small screen. They've been discussing it, but as yet nothing is finalized. n WHILE SHE was still an MK, Inbal Gavrieli continued with her law studies, and she recently passed her final exams. Meanwhile, aside from getting married and having a baby, she's also become a television personality and appears as a regular panelist on the weekly sports show Tribuna on Israel Television, where she seems to be a lot more assertive than she was in the Knesset. She has proven that she not only knows the rules of soccer, but also the names of all the players and coaches. Of course, it helps to be married to soccer star Liran Strauber. n AFTER AN amicable separation during which they still appeared together at social events, supermodel Galit Gutman and her famous photographer husband Ziv Koren are fully reconciled - meaning that even a little absence makes the heart grow fonder. The word is out that they are now planning to build a new home in north Tel Aviv on property they purchased two years ago. n BUT UNFORTUNATELY, it doesn't look as if Rita and Rami Kleinstein are going to kiss and make up. He has been seen squiring other potential significant others, and there was a rumor that she was going around with a pilot, although she denied it and said that he was nothing more than her landlord. n LIKEWISE, IT'S fairly obvious that Moshe and Orna Datz have called it quits forever. Though they have gone their separate ways both personally and professionally, it doesn't seem to have harmed either of them. She looks better than ever and continues to remain in the public eye, and he's doing very well, career-wise. Datz recently signed up with NMC United, which produces, markets and sells DVDs. Pnina Edery, the company's CEO, emphasized that NMC was primarily interested in the content of Datz's program, saying it was particularly hard to find suitable content for children. Moshe Datz has apparently hit on the right formula.