°×С½ãÂÛ̳

Link:

ucl.ac.uk/alumni/groups/middle-east/israel" target="_self">Israel alumni

Nearly 100 °×С½ãÂÛ̳ alumni and guests enjoyed a gala dinner held at the Sheraton City Tower Hotel in Ramat Gan, Israel, on 28 November 2007 to celebrate the first decade of activities of the °×С½ãÂÛ̳ Israel Alumni Association.

The evening was opened by the Chairman of the Association, retired Israel Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Bach (°×С½ãÂÛ̳ Laws 1950; Fellow 1998), who read greetings from the Chair of °×С½ãÂÛ̳ Council, Lord Woolf (°×С½ãÂÛ̳ Laws 1954; Fellow 1981).

Greetings were also received from Minister for Social Affairs & Services Isaac Herzog, the son of the late President Chaim Herzog (°×С½ãÂÛ̳ Laws 1941), who was prevented from attending by urgent parliamentary business.

After Justice Bach's remarks on the activities of the association, and his happy memories of his time at °×С½ãÂÛ̳, the company heard from Dana Olmert, the first recipient of the Chevening-°×С½ãÂÛ̳ Israel Alumni-Chaim Herzog Award. Dana expressed her appreciation of the opportunity that had been given to her and the impact her studies at °×С½ãÂÛ̳ had made on her doctorate.

The association set up the award as one of its first actions, and has so far sent five students to °×С½ãÂÛ̳ to study for a second degree.

The current award holder is Liran Zitzer, who is reading Public Policy & Administration. He graduated from the Hebrew University after completing the special PPE honours degree programme, and also participated in the Atidim Programme (Cadets for Public Service) that aims to qualify its graduates for key positions in the public sector - he interned at the Ministry of Finance Budget Division within this framework.

Jennifer Janes (°×С½ãÂÛ̳ Laws 1963), Joint Executive Director of the Association, thanked those who had contributed towards the award and hoped that further donations would enable the association to continue to send students to °×С½ãÂÛ̳.

The evening's high point was the address by Dr Paul Ayris, °×С½ãÂÛ̳'s Director of Library Services and Copyright Officer. Dr Ayris spoke on 'Celebrating 350 Years of the Re-Admission of the Jewish Community into England', and gave a fascinating analysis of Cromwell's motives for permitting the re-admission.

All the speakers made reference to the boycott of Israeli academia, which had recently been proposed and rejected in the UK. °×С½ãÂÛ̳'s strong opposition to the boycott, under the leadership of °×С½ãÂÛ̳ President and Provost Professor Malcolm Grant, was emphasised by Dr Ayris.

Everyone then enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner, during which alumni socialized with friends old and new.

To find our more about alumni activity in Israel, use the link at the top of this article.

Image (left to right): Dana Olmert, Dr Paul Ayris, Jennifer Janes, Zvi Geffen and Justice Gabriel Bach