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Israeli circus troupe brings laughs — but no clothes — to NBC’s ‘America’s Got Talent’
(JTA) — Anyone who has visited an Israeli beach is likely familiar with the popular beach paddle game known as matkot.
For millions of TV viewers and a live audience of 1,400 at NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” a trio of Israeli performers who go by Bomba, or bomb in Hebrew, offered an intimate introduction to the sport on Tuesday’s episode.
The circus trio emerged with only six wooden matkot paddles, one ball and … no clothing. Keeping the necessary parts covered, the three performers juggled, hit the ball to one another and cautiously walked back and forth across the stage. They performed to Quincy Jones’ famous jingle “Soul Bossa Nova.”
The act, which lasted just under two minutes, elicited countless gasps and considerable applause from the panel of judges and the live audience. A few grimaces were sprinkled in as well, especially when the paddles slipped.
After the performance, which earned a standing ovation, the trio came back out on stage wearing pink bathrobes.
“Is this a famous Israel show? Do people love this?” judge Sophia Vergara asked them.
“Not yet,” one of them replied.
Heidi Klum, another judge, joked that the trio should try using smaller paddles. “We’ve got a lot more to show!” the same performer quipped.
Uncomfortable giggles aside, the judges all voted in favor of the act, including Jewish comedian Howie Mandel, who bid the troupe farewell by shouting “Shalom!” as they exited the stage.
The troupe’s members are brothers Noam and Yaron Davidovich and their frequent collaborator Amit Gerbi, all regulars in Israel’s tight-knit circus scene. They have shared videos before of themselves juggling on a kibbutz, teaching circus arts and performing in colorful jester clothing in the Czech Republic, but the matkot cabaret act is newer. The group taped its “America’s Got Talent” performance in April.
In an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 on Wednesday, one of the performers said he blacked out on stage for the first time in his life. “Thankfully, we did lots of rehearsals, so my body remembered all of the moves. But I was really in a panic,” he said.
According to the Times of Israel, “Bomba” was one of 200 performances, whittled down from 75,000 submissions for the audition round.
Since the now viral act — which has been viewed around 250 thousand times on YouTube — the group has been invited to compete on “Got Talent” shows in Romania and France, they said.
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UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, seen by Reuters, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities. The text does not name the United States or Israel.
“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program,” Guterres said.
The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran’s enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, “no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage.”
Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran’s sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.
“Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran requested the U.N. Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Israel‘s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”
Danon told reporters before the council meeting that it was still early when it came to assessing the impact of the U.S. strikes. When asked if Israel was pursuing regime change in Iran, Danon said: “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us.”
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Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document … and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’
FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.
US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.
“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.
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