1. B- day,Is r ae l
appy 64 !
th
H

2. David Ben-Gurion was the first Prim e
M inister of Israel. H e is consid ered the
"father" of m od ern Israel. Ben-Gurion was
also nam ed one of Tim e M agazine's 1 00
M ost Im portant People of the C entury.

3. In 1 969 G olda Meir becam e Israel's first and the
world 's third wom an to hold the Prim e M inister
office .She was d escribed as the "Iron L ad y" of Israeli
politics.

4. Marcel Iancuwas a Rom anian and Israeli
visual artist and architect who contributed to
the early d evelopm ent of the Israeli art.
H e is also well - known as the co-inventor of
D ad aism . )new ways of experim enting with
abstract sight and thought(.
After 1 953 his work centered on the
.establishm ent of Ein H od , an art colony

5. Reuven Rubin was a Rom anian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first am bassad or
to Rom ania.
H e was one of the found ers of the new Eretz-Yisrael style. H is them es were the
biblical land scape, folklore and people. M any of his paintings are about
Jerusalem and the Galilee.

6. Yaacov A gam is a sculptor.
H is work is usually abstract, kinetic art, with m ovem ent, viewer participation and frequent use
of light and sound . H is works are placed in m any public places. The fountain is in Tel Aviv.

7. I lana G oor is an international artist known for her uniquely styled sculptures, furniture, lighting, jewelry,
and accessories.
She works and lives in a restored 1 8th-century house located in the very heart of ancient Jaffa and
overlooking the M ed iterranean. She's turned part of it into a m useum of her sculptures in wood , stone, and
m etal ,alongsid e works of art from her private collection.In the 1 8th century the house was used as the first
khan for Jewish pilgrim s en route to Jerusalem .

8. E phraim K ishon - author, d ram atist, screenwriter, and film d irector. H e is one of the m ost wid ely-read contem porary
satirists in the world . K ishon's books have been translated into 37 languages .
H e wrote, d irected and prod uced five feature film s )all of them com ed ic /satirical m ovies(. Three m ovies were
nom inated for m ajor international award s )The Gold en Globe award (, two were nom inated for the O scar: Sallah
Shabati and .H a-Shoter Azoulay

9. Naomi Ragen is an Am erican-born novelist, playwright and journalist who has lived in Jerusalem since 1 971
and who writes regularly to her m ailing list about Israel and Jewish issues. N aom i has published eight
internationally best selling novels, and is the author of a hit play )Wom en's M inyan( which has been perform ed
m ore than 500 tim es in Israel's N ational Theatre )H abim ah( as well as in the U nited States and Argentina.

10. A mos Oz was in recent years a serious cand id ate to receive N obel Prize in L iterature. H e has published 35 books
since 1 965, includ ing 1 3 novels, four volum es of short stories and novels, child ren’s books and nine books
containing essays and articles.
Am os O z is known for books like ‘A Perfect Peace’ )1 982(, ‘Black Box’ )1 987(, ‘H ow to C ure a Fanatic’ )2006(,
‘A Tale of L ove and D arkness’ )2003(, ‘Scenes from Village L ife’ )2009(.
In 2007, his book "A Tale of Love and D arkness" was nom inated one of the ten m ost im portant books since the
creation of the State of Israel.

11. C olonel Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli astronaut.
In 2003, he d ied as a m em ber of the crew on the
Space Shuttle C olum bia.

12. Shmuel Yosef A gnon ,
N obel prize for L iterature, 1 966
H is works d eal with the conflict between the trad itional Jewish life and language and the m od ern
.)world . They also attem pt to revive the fad ing trad itions of the European shtetl )village

13. A vram Hershko, N obel
Prize for C hem istry,
2004
Daniel Kahneman,
N obel Prize for
Econom ics, 2002

14. ,A aron C iechanover Robert A umann ,
C hem istry, 2004 N obel Prize for Econom ics,
2005

15. Dan Shechtman, ,A da E . Yonath
N obel Prize for C hem istry, N obel Prize for C hem istry,
201 1 2009

16. Daniel Orenhas cond ucted at the Royal O pera H ouse C ovent Gard en, the M etropolitan in N ew York, the
Arena in Verona, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Bastille in Paris and the opera houses of Rom e, Trieste, Genoa,
Florence, Parm a, Turin, Venice, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Tokyo, H uston,
Washington and m any others.
At M asad a : N abuco,Aid a,C arm en

17. Itzhak Perlman is a violinist, cond uctor, and instructor of m aster classes. H e is regard ed as one of the
preem inent violinists of the 20th and early-21 st centuries . Perlm an has also played jazz and klezm er. H e
has been a soloist for a num ber of m ovie scores, such as the 1 993 film Schindler's List and Memoirs of a
G eisha, along with cellist Yo-Yo M a.

18. Shlomo Mintz and Pinchas
Zukerman are violin virtuosos,
violists and cond uctors. They
regularly appear with orchestras
and cond uctors on the international
scene and are heard in recitals and
concerts around the world .

19. Yoav Talmi,
cond uctor and com poser.
M usic D irector, San D iego Sym phony
G uy Braunstein,violonist, d eveloped a solo
1 987– 1 996.
and cham ber m usic career. H e
C hief C ond uctor, H am burg Sym phony
perform ed as a soloist with lead ing
O rchestra
.orchestras around the world
2000-2004.
In 2000 B raunstein was appointed as the Talm i's com positions includ e an Elegy for
concertm aster of the Berlin Strings, Tim pani and Accord ion ("D achau
.Philharm onic O rchestra Reflections"(.

20. Ivry G itlis - violinist. H e has perform ed with the
world 's top orchestras )N ew York Philharm onic,
Berlin Philharm onic, Vienna Philharm onic,
Philad elphia O rchestra, and Israel Philharm onic(,
and m any of his record ings are consid ered classics.
Violinist G il Shahamis
internationally recognized by
aud iences and critics alike as
one of tod ay’s m ost virtuosic
.and engaging classical artists

21. Haim Topolcam e to greatest
prom inence in the role of Tevye the
m ilkm an in the long-running m usical
show Fid d ler on the Roof. H e later
starred in the 1 971 film version.
In 1 972, Topol won a Gold en Globe
Award and was nom inated for a Best
Actor O scar for his perform ance in
.the film

22. Natalie Portman is a very talented Israeli
Am erican actress
Acad em y Award for Best Actress – 201 1 in the
film Black Swan.

23. Ofra Haza , a very popular singer, was invited to sing in front of the Pope, as well as on other m ajor and
im portant occasions such as the N obel Prize cerem onies and the peace d eal signing in Israel.
H er m usic fused elem ents of Eastern and Western instrum entation, orchestration and d ance-beat. She becam e
successful in Europe and the Am ericas; d uring her singing career, she earned m any platinum and gold d iscs.

24. A chinoam Nini ,also known by her professional nam e N oa, is a lead ing Israeli
international concert and record ing artist.
N oa has perform ed in C arnegie H all and Avery Fisher H all in N ew York C ity,
O lym pia in Paris, Rom e's C olosseum . In 2000, N oa record ed the them e song of
"L ife Is Beautiful", Roberto Benigni's O scar award -winning film .

25. The popular IC Q instant-m essaging program was created by four Israeli com puter geeks: Yair Goldfinger,
A rik Vardi, Sefi Vigiser and A mnon A mir – four m en who have really changed the world . For the first
tim e it was possible for people to com m unicate with their friend s and know when their friend s are online.

26. In 1 999, D ov M oran, an Israeli engineer and
entrepreneur, along with his colleagues at m system s,
invented an innovative d evice that could be connected
to a com puter quickly and easily. The d evice d id not
require a prelim inary installation process and it
operated using a stand ard connection that exists in any
m od ern com puter. It was sm all, reliable and enabled
unlim ited expansion of the scope of m em ory.

27. VoIP technology enables telephone calls to be
transm itted via the internet.
The internet was originally d esigned to transfer
com puter d ata, thus a special application that
would allow the transfer of telephone calls via
internet had to be d eveloped .
This type of innovative software was first
d eveloped in 1 995 by Alon C ohen, L ior
H aram ati, O fer Shem -Tov, Elad Sion, O pher
K ahane and D ror Tirosh - Israeli software
.d evelopers at VocalTec

28. In 1 995, Israeli entrepreneur
A mnon Ovadia id entified the
need for an online English–
H ebrew d ictionary that d id not
interrupt the read ing process.
As a result, Babylon L td . was
found ed in 1 997 and launched
the first version of Babylon, a
computer dictionary and
translation program.

29. D rip irrigation - the system that is based on using plastic pipes that release sm all am ounts of water next to roots of
plants - was d eveloped by the Israeli engineer Simcha Blas.
The invention caused a revolution in agriculture and has been ad opted by farm ers in m any countries .
Blass and his son Yeshayahu and the d esert-based K ibbutz H atzerim )near Beer Sheva ( established N etafim
Irrigation C om pany. Prod uction began in 1 966. N etafim engineers working with Blass, d eveloped the online d ripper
- ind eed allowing the d esert to bloom .

30. A leksandr A verbukhwon three gold
m ed als in the pole vault at European
cham pionships )2000 — ind oor, 2002
and 2006( as well as two m ed als at the
.)World cham pionships )1 999 and 2001

31. Shahar Pe'er- ranked #1 1 at her best
the d oubles team of A ndy Ram and Joni
E rlich )world #7 team ( ,in 2006 and 2008
Australian O pen cham pions.
D ud i Sela ranked # 29 at his best

32. Athens O lym pic Gam es in Greece, August 25, 2004.
Gal Fridmanbecam e the first Israeli com petitor to
.win an O lym pic Gam es gold m ed al
Photo:People's Daily Online

33. In 1 992 at the Barcelona O lym pic gam es,jud oca
Yael A rad won a silver m ed al and becam e the
first Israeli to win an O lym pic m ed al.

34. Tal Brod y – a form er basketball player. In 1 979 he was award ed the country's highest civilian honor,
the Israel Prize. In 1 977, he led tiny Israel's basketball team to the European C up Basketball
C ham pionship. Along the way, his team d efeated the heavily favored C SK A M oscow.
Brod y's fam ous rem ark upon beating the Soviets – " We are on the map! A nd we are staying on the
map – not only in sports, but in everything." – becam e a part of Israeli culture

35. D ear Israel,
We wish you a happy, long, long life.
We wish you
Peace !
L ove and
und erstand ing !
We wish you to flourish !
We wish you all the best
in the world .
“In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles”
David Ben-Gurion
Photos – N oem i.Ervin,Ad i,L iviu
N egev d esert , D ead Sea ,Ein Ged i , Ein H od ,
Jerusalem ,M asad a,Ashd od , Beer Sheva,O m er
From the net – cred it to their owners
Info : Wikiped ia
April 2012 25
Music : O ur tiny land – Artzeinu haktantonet
Ram i K leinstein