For a second year running a City of London Boys team just pipped Habs Girls to the Etgar Israel trophy, winning by a single point — the same margin of victory as last year.

Over 80 students from six secondary schools competed in last week’s contest which tests their knowledge of Israel.

In the creative challenges, Immanuel College won the prize for designing the best mosaic for JNF UK’s nursery project in southern Israel; and Habs Girls for he best cover for a new book on Israeli history.

Habs Girls at Etgar (E Jacobs Photography)

Elan Gorji, chief executive of JNF UK, which sponsored the competition said, “It was truly inspirational to witness the enthusiasm of the students participating in the Yom Ha’atzmaut Etgar Israel Challenge. The remarkable level of knowledge demonstrated by the participants was really impressive.”

He added, ”Now more than ever, our children require fundamental knowledge about Israel and JNF UK is proud to support Etgar, an organisation steadfastly dedicated to ensuring our children are well-informed and have a stronger understanding of all aspects of Israel.”

Etgar director Atarah Ruback said, |At this particularly difficult time, it was heartening to see so many Jewish students committed and engaged in learning about Israeli history and society. The scores this year were excellent across the board, on a particularly tricky test.

“At each stage of a wonderful afternoon, the students illustrated a serious commitment to their appreciation of Israel, while still embracing the celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut.”