City Notes: Ben-Gurion Airport unveils ‘selfie station’ for incoming tourists

A catch-up from around the country.

By COMPILEDJULIE STEIGERWALD
A glass of white wine [Illustrative] (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
A glass of white wine [Illustrative]
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
CENTER
With social media so popular, the Tourism Ministry last week inaugurated a project to allow tourists arriving at Ben-Gurion Airport to update their social networking pages upon arrival in Israel.
The new “selfie station” allows tourists to take a picture of themselves in front of a large banner featuring a backdrop of Tel Aviv’s coastal skyline, above which reads the phrase “Shalom from Tel Aviv.”
“Several other selfie stations will soon be in place in Jerusalem, Acre, Eilat and the Dead Sea. I invite the public to contact us with suggestions for other locations,” Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said last Thursday at the undertaking’s unveiling.
Herzliya beach makes waves among surfing community
The Herzliya coast made waves across the international surfing community this week and last on the backdrop of a World Surf League event held there.
Stormy weather made conditions ripe for surfers at Herzliya’s Dromi beach. Hundreds of professional surfers from around the world and Israeli surfers drew attention for riding the unusually high waves at the Mediterranean beach.
A short video of the surfers riding the white-capped, barreling waves garnered more than two million views in its first 48 hours on the Internet last weekend.
Surfing greats such as South Africa’s Steve Sawyer and France’s Adrien Toyon were among the top surfers in Israel for the WSL European qualifying contest that ran from January 16-27.
TA raises glass to wine experts expo
Tel Aviv hosted the 12th annual Sommelier exhibition this week at the city’s cultural center in Habima Square.
Hundreds of wine experts, connoisseurs, dealers and vineyard representatives along with food, hospitality and beverage industry professionals from Israel and throughout the world attended the event on Tuesday and Wednesday aimed at providing networking and display opportunities.
Experts from France, the US, Chile, Italy, the UK and Japan were among the international representatives who arrived for the event. The exhibition featured a more than 3,000-square-meter display of diverse, quality wines from Israel and around the globe.
NORTH
Families commemorate fallen IDF soldiers in Tu Bishvat planting ceremony
To mark Tu Bishvat, some 300 families and relatives of fallen IDF soldiers attended a planting ceremony last Friday in the northern Lavi Forest, between Tiberias and Nazareth.
“The best way to commemorate the dead is to sanctify life. This forest, which commemorates those who have lost their lives for the sake of the country, creates life through nature,” KKL-JNF chairman Danny Atar said of the planting in Lavi Forest.
IBA reporter wins lifetime achievement award for coverage of North, Arab sector
Veteran Israel Broadcasting Authority reporter Munib Fares received a lifetime achievement award last week for his work covering Israel’s northern region and the Arab sector.
The group Outside the Bubble 3 alongside the University of Haifa awarded Fares the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his expansive television career spanning four decades.
“I hail from the press of the past, the old guard, when journalists still used fax [machines] and beepers,” Fares said during the award ceremony last Thursday. “Journalism is experiencing a difficult period, and it’s important for me to tell the younger generation that they should maintain the high standards of the profession.”
Fares began his journalistic career more than 40 years ago as a newspaper sports reporter covering the Hapoel Acre soccer team. He was among the founders of the IBA’s Arabic department, and managed the northern district news.
SOUTH
Holocaust survivors, Ashkelon youth hold intergenerational dialogue
Holocaust survivors and youngsters from Ashkelon held an intergenerational dialogue on Wednesday as part of a commemorative event marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
As part of the municipality’s memorial ceremony on the solemn day, Ashkelon Mayor Itamar Shimoni addressed the crowd, amid prayer and song sessions.
The commemoration, held under the banner “And You Chose Life,” took place at the city’s Waldenberg Community Center.
Ein Gedi race on mark to set off February 6
The 33rd annual Ein Gedi Experience Run is set to take place on February 6.
The international race at the lowest place on earth sets off from Kibbutz Ein Gedi and finishes at the Dead Sea.
Athletes have the option of participating in various run lengths, ranging from 2 kilometers to 30 kilometers.
Participants can register at www.eingedi-run.co.il.


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