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By Itzhak Rabihiya

President Rivlin was guest of honor at a special meeting in London of heads of impact funds which advance projects and initiatives in Israel and in the Middle East, in the spirit of the ‘Four Tribes’ speech

President Reuven Rivlin was today, Tuesday 26 November guest of honor at a special meeting in London of heads of impact funds which advance projects and initiatives in Israel and in the Middle East. The meeting, at the invitation of Yad HaNadiv-The Rothschild Foundation and the Portland Trust, discussed a number of initiatives under consideration for the coming year, in the spirit of the president’s 2015 ‘Four Tribes’ speech and in relation to social dynamics in Israel and the region.

The projects presented focused on advancing shared existence, social diversity and confidence-building across society. President Rivlin, Chair of Yad HaNadiv-The Rothschild Foundation Lord Jacob Rothschild, Chair of the Portland Trust Sir Ronald Cohen, CEO of the Portland Trust Douglas Krikler and Chair of UJIA Louise Jacobs spoke at the meeting.

“Israel is a success story,” said the president at the beginning of his remarks. “Israel is a miracle. But if we want to preserve this miracle, we must recognize the great challenges before us. The four main tribes that make up our society - secular, national-religious, ultra-Orthodox and Arab -  are becoming closer in size,” noted the president, stressing that we must build partnership between them, based on two pillars: firstly trust between the different sectors and trust between them and the state; and secondly the promise of economic integration and mobility. “That is why I launched the Israeli Hope initiative which focuses on education, higher education, employment the public sector and local government Today, we are working with a broad range of partners, government agencies, civil society, philanthropists and Jewish communities- to realize this vision.”

The president also noted the work done by ‘Israeli Hope’ in a number of other fields, including employment in the Israeli-Arab sector and vocational training in the ultra-Orthodox sector, as well as a number of other programs in the pipeline.

Among the projects under discussion during this visit is the ‘Land of the Monasteries’ which the president has promoted with the assistance of Maj-Gen (ret) Yoav (‘Poli’) Mordechai, former IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. The president has been involved in the project since his first day in office and now is also working with Yad HaNadiv-The Rothschild Foundation and the Portland Trust who are promoting the initiative. The plan includes the restoration of the Christian holy places in the Jordan Valley and increasing the number of visitors.

Israeli Hope is President Rivlin’s flagship program for strengthening civility and partnership among the four main sectors of Israeli society - - secular, national-religious, ultra-Orthodox and Arab. Israel Hope works to bring the sectors together in meaningful social and economic interaction, create cooperation between them in key fields, primarily education, academia, employment, local government and sport. Israeli Hope aims to strengthen the ‘together’ of Israeli society through respect for each of its component parts, with the aim of securing the resilience and success of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. The activities of the program include a wide range of links with government ministries, philanthropic funds and civil society organisations in order to promote partnership in Israeli society.

Attached photo credit: Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)