Eighty Israelis come together to compete in Rubik's Cube event with hundreds spectating

Nearly 80 competitors and hundreds of spectators attended the Mike's Cubes 2026 Rubik's Cube competition on July 5 at the Shoham Medical Center in Pardes Hanna-Karkur. The event, supervised by the World Cube Association and the Speed Cubing Israel Association, welcomed 20 new participants. Co-founder Esti Stone stated, "Beyond the competition itself, seeing all the friendships being forged here and the community continuing to grow, this is what warms my heart most of all." The competition was divided into categories based on cube size, shape, and blindfolded solving.

• Ben Baron won four of six categories, setting national records for solving a Skewb in 1.33 seconds and a 4x4x4 cube blindfolded in just over two minutes.
• Yoav Vishne won the 2x2x2 cube category with a time of 0.91 seconds.
• Netanel Pour set a national record in the pyraminx category, solving it in 1.61 seconds and taking first place.
• The annual event honors Mike Stone, Esti Stone's late husband, who was Israel's oldest competitor before his passing in 2022.

Due to high demand, the community is preparing for the 2026 Israeli Championship in Tel Aviv at the end of August.