Israeli films and filmmakers have been gaining an enormous amount of recognition all over the world lately, including the recent triumph of “Lebanon” at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.

While New Yorkers experienced the last few rays of summer, Israeli swimsuit label Gottex took the catwalk from Bryant Park all the way to the beach.

For the first time ever, an Israeli film wins the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. The film, “Lebanon”, by director and screenwriter Samuel Maoz, received the prestigious award this Saturday, September 12th.

Just a few days before setting foot in Arthur Ashe Stadium, top-ranked Israeli tennis players Andy Ram, Yoni Erlich, and Harel Levy led a tennis clinic for the New York Junior Tennis League.

In Israel, for the next five weeks (staring August 9th), happy hour revelers will be eligible to win an airline ticket to Europe every day of the week!

You’re invited! On Thursday, July 9, from 8-9:30 AM, NY:MIEG, in association with the NY Press Club, will present “Media Trends in News Coverage of Israel & the Region: A Conversation with MediaCentral’s Aryeh Green.”

Dozens of Israelis marched together down New York’s Fifth Avenue yesterday as part of the 2009 Gay Pride Parade. They marched under the auspices of the Tel Aviv municipality to celebrate the city’s 100th anniversary and were joined by Tel Aviv Councilman Yaniv Waizman and singer Keren Peles.

Watch the party in Central Park live, but don’t let this stop you from coming over and playing in the sand and dancing!

On June 17th, David Saranga (@DavidSaranga), Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York (@IsraelConsulate), addressed the 140 Character Conference (#140conf) about the use of twitter in Public Diplomacy.

During the coming week, New York City will be host to the largest gathering yet devoted to Twitter, the 140 Characters Conference (#140Conf for all you on Twitter), the brainchild of Jeff Pulver. Among the featured presenters is Consul David Saranga (@DavidSaranga), who will discuss how the microblogging service has changed the face of public diplomacy.