Grapevine November 15, 2024: Our non-Jewish friends

 US AMBASSADOR designate to Israel Mike Huckabee arguably knows Israel better than most Israelis, considering the number of Evangelical groups he has led on tours to Israel. Huckabee is a friend not just to Israel but also to the Jewish people.

His daughter Sarah Huckabee Sanders frequently relates that when she was 11 years old, her parents took her to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.

They had visited Israel many times, but it was Sarah’s first visit. They went to all the Christian holy sites, and one of the last places on their itinerary was Yad Vashem.

Her parents were unsure as to whether she was ready for what she would see and learn there, but they wanted her to understand the importance of standing up against evil. The little girl understood. “All it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing,” she has said many times since.

Today, that little girl is the governor of Arkansas, a position previously held by her father from 1996 to 2007.

In January 2021, when Huckabee Sanders announced her candidacy for governor, she was endorsed by Donald Trump, for whom she worked as press secretary during the first half of his presidency.

She had also campaigned for him when he initially ran for president.Now, her father will be a member of the Trump team during Trump’s second presidency.

Christian support 

■ AMONG CHRISTIAN denominations, the best-known supporters of Israel and the Jewish People are the Evangelicals, but certainly not to the exclusion of other Christian groups as evidenced by the World Jewish Congress Theodor  Herzl Award to Ambassador Jon M. Huntsman Jr., who is a Mormon.

In addition to his political and diplomatic career, which began during the Ronald Reagan administration, Huntsman was twice elected governor of Utah and is currently vice chairman and president of strategic growth at Mastercard.

He is also a trustee of the Huntsman Foundation, which led the establishment of the Huntsman Cancer Institute along with the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah.

Like WJC President Ronald Lauder, Huntsman is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, which he publicly criticized for allowing violent antisemitism on campus.

In response to receiving the Herzl award this week at the WJC gala dinner at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Huntsman said, “All of us stand with Israel and support an ultimate path to peace.

That’s why last year, amid the drastic rise of antisemitism on college campuses, especially in the wake of October 7, I sent a letter to the president of my alma mater, Penn, withdrawing the financial support of the Huntsman Foundation. What I wrote then remains true today: ‘Silence is antisemitism, and antisemitism is hate, the very thing higher ed was built to obviate.’”

US President Joe Biden, a Catholic, said something similar when he received the Herzl award while serving as vice president.

Although members of the Jewish faith were prominent in the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations, as well as the Clinton administration, they are far fewer in number in the new Trump team.

The WJC’s Teddy Kollek award was also given at the dinner to Tal Huber, the founder of Israel-based Giraff Visual Communication, who projected greater global awareness of the hostages in Gaza through the portrait campaign that made them more than just names and statistics but faces of real people.

Committed to advancing Israel and Jewish values, Huber spearheaded branding and design projects for the Maccabiah Games, designed the official stamp for the State of Israel’s 70th anniversary, and rebranded the elementary-school tier of Israel’s education system.

Ceremony at Weizmann Institute

■ NUMEROUS EVENTS in Israel were canceled or postponed in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 massacre by Hamas. Among those postponed was the ceremony at the Weizmann Institute in which eight outstanding individuals were awarded honorary doctorates.

But this year, despite the ongoing shadow of war and continued captivity of the hostages in Gaza, it was decided to go ahead with the 76th International Board of Governors meeting of the Weizmann Institute of Science at which the honorary doctorate awards ceremony was held in the presence of Weizmann Institute supporters from around the world.

The recipients were: television and radio personality Ilana Dayan, who began her broadcasting career at Army Radio during her period of mandatory service in the IDF; Renée Drake, an educator who, together with her husband, supports contemporary artists around the world; Elie Horn, a real estate entrepreneur and visionary philanthropist; Roberto Kaminitz, an entrepreneur and expert in the electrical and electronic industry and a generous philanthropist; Martha A. Darling, a retired corporate executive and prominent leader in diverse nonprofit organizations whose contributions have significantly shaped the fields of public policy, business, and conservation in the United States; Dr. Gilbert (Gil) Omenn, a physician-scientist who serves as professor of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics, Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, and Environmental Health at the University of Michigan; Danny Sanderson, a prolific songwriter, composer, gifted guitarist, and charismatic bandleader; and  Prof. Avi Wigderson, a trailblazer in theoretical computer science, renowned for his profound impact on the intersection of mathematics and computer science. His seminal insights into randomness and pseudorandomness in computation are recognized worldwide.

Individually and collectively, the extraordinary accomplishments of the eight honorees are nothing less than mind-boggling.

Not all the honorees live in the countries of their birth.

Darling and Omenn, born in the US, continue to reside there; likewise, Sanderson and Wigderson, born in Israel, have Israel as their main place of domicile, though their respective careers took them abroad from time to time.

Dayan was born in Argentina but lives in Israel. Drake is a native of South Africa but lives in the Netherlands. Horn was born in Syria but lives in Brazil. Kaminitz, who also lives in Brazil, was born in Uruguay.

An inauguration 

■ LAST WEEK, the Haifa Technion inaugurated the Uzia Galil Foyer in the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The foyer was named in memory of one of the key pioneers of Israel’s hi-tech industry. Galil was considered the father of Israeli start-ups. Among the various companies that he founded was Elbit Systems.

The foyer, which showcases Galil’s legacy of advanced defense technology, developed by Elbit Systems, was made possible through the support of the Galil family and Elbit Systems.

Among those attending the inauguration ceremony were members of the Galil family; Elbit president and CEO Bezhalel (Butsi) Machlis; former Elbit Systems Board Chairman Miki Federman; Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan; Prof. Idit Keidar, dean of the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Prof. Peretz Lavie, chairman of the Israel Friends of Technion Association.

Uzia Galil, who died in 2021 at the age of 96, was an alumnus of the Technion’s Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering.Born in Bucharest Romania, he came to pre-state Israel as a member of Youth Aliyah in an operation to save young Jews from the clutches of the Nazis.

In 1943, he began his studies at the Technion, and after graduating, he served in the Israeli Navy for several years.

After earning a master’s degree from Purdue University, he worked in Chicago on Motorola’s color television development, and upon returning to Israel, he rejoined the Navy as head of the Electronics R&D Department.

In 1957, he returned to his alma mater as a lecturer and head of the Technion’s Electronics Department in the Faculty of Physics, where he developed advanced electronic systems for physical research.

While teaching at the Technion, he founded Elron in 1962. This subsequently led to the creation of 25 technology companies, including Elscint and Zoran.

Galil later established the Galil Center for Medical Information and Telemedicine at the Technion’s Ruth and Bruce Rapaport Faculty of Medicine with the aim of integrating technology for the benefit of health care through the use of advanced systems.

In addition to teaching and inventing, Galil also served as chairman of Technion’s Board of Governors and as a member of the executive committee.

At the ceremony, Galil’s daughter Ruth Alon, who in her own right is a hi-tech entrepreneur and Technion graduate, said, “We always knew and felt that the extended Galil family includes the Technion and Elbit. These were my father’s ‘homes.’ The collaboration between academia and industry was always his vision and mission. There is a no-more-fitting place to commemorate and honor him.”

Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan described Galil as “a visionary who contributed greatly to the Technion, to Israeli industry and society. He was one of the Technion’s most distinguished alumni and a devoted friend of the institution at which he received his education.

Uzia was a pioneer in many areas, and he laid the foundations for Israel’s hi-tech industry. His vision for integrating technology and medicine for the benefit of humanity was ahead of its time.”

Quoting Palmach commander Yigal Allon, Machlis said, “A nation that does not know its past has a poor present and an uncertain future.”Prof. Peretz Lavie, a former president of the Technion, said, “Uzia taught us that innovation and entrepreneurship are more than just technical skills. They are a way of thinking, a belief in the power of ideas to change the world.”

Marathon in Tel Aviv 

■ DESPITE SEVERAL scary incidents, Tel Aviv has been at the forefront of attempting to return life to normal after more than a year of ongoing warfare, and this week announced that the 16th Tel Aviv marathon will take place in February 2025.

It is anticipated that the event will attract more than 40,000 runners. Declaring that the marathon will return in full force, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said, “This marathon is an important event for our city, a city that breathes and lives sports. In these times, we need to remind ourselves that sport is not only for physical health but also a remedy for the soul.

Through sports, we allow ourselves to both feel pain and find comfort, and we remember that both body and spirit have enabled us to overcome many challenges before. This time too, we will succeed and rebuild, and we are proud to continue hosting this unique marathon that unites the entire nation.”

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