Last Friday marked the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence as a tool of war in conflict situations.
Michal Herzog, the wife of the president of the state, is a qualified lawyer who ran her own practice and frequently visited women’s shelters, where she heard harrowing stories about domestic violence.
Here and there, Herzog also heard stories of the brutal sexual violence to which men had been subjected. But nothing was quite as horrifying as what she heard from both males and females who had been hostages of Hamas in Gaza.
She has been at the forefront of the battle to eliminate sexual violence as a weapon of war. Herzog has written on the subject in international publications, participated in panel discussions, met with heads of state and other influential figures, spoken on television, hosted like-minded activists, and more.
As painful as it has been for former hostages to relate and relive what happened to them, by telling her, they are supplying the ammunition that she needs for her battle on their behalf and on behalf of countless other victims caught in the jaws of conflict elsewhere in the world.
Difficult, emotionally moving conversation of captivity
A few days prior to the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, she met with former hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal for a difficult and emotionally moving conversation about his experiences in captivity.
Both Herzog and Gilboa-Dalal were shocked and outraged by a recent claim by UN Secretary-General António Guterres that the United Nations was “not able to verify” reports of sexual violence as told by Israeli hostages.
Direct and indirect denials of this kind are what motivate Gilboa-Dalal and other former hostages to keep telling their stories in Israel and abroad.
“I feel like I have a mission to spread my story to the world, and to use my voice and empower other victims of sexual assaults,” Gilboa-Dalal said.
“I want people who have been through those experiences to know that they are not alone, because I know that a lot of people who are going through sexual assaults refuse to talk about it with anyone,” he added.
After listening to what Gilboa-Dalal had endured, Herzog said, “This was a very difficult and shattering experience for a young person to go through, especially in a place where you feel totally powerless.”
“It is very brave of you to share this with us, and I think that bringing the truth and the true story is what we should bring to the world,” she continued.
In addition to meeting with former hostages, President Isaac Herzog and his wife have also been meeting with Holocaust survivors, victims of terror, wounded soldiers, and bereaved families who lost their nearest and dearest in the Hamas massacre of October 7 or in other terrorist attacks, or whose loved ones fell in battle in Gaza or Lebanon.
This week, they also met a delegation of survivors of the 1992 and 1994 terrorist attacks on the Israeli embassy in Argentina and the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
It should be remembered that Iran sponsored both attacks, though it took a very long time for the wheels of justice to turn.
Next week, the president will also meet with the last remaining survivors of the pogrom in Iasi, Romania. President Herzog will participate in a state ceremony marking the 85th anniversary of the pogrom in which thousands of Jews were murdered.
The ceremony will be held at a Jewish cemetery - the final resting place of many of the victims. He will also participate in the reburial of 22 of the victims and will visit the city’s Holocaust museum and other memorial sites.
On the following day, he will travel to Bucharest to meet with Romanian President Nicusor Dan and senior officials.
His state visit to Romania will be Herzog’s sixth visit abroad this year. His previous visits were to Davos, Switzerland, in January; Australia and Ethiopia in February; Kazakhstan in April; and Panama and Costa Rica in May.
Over the two decades and more that she worked as the personal assistant of prime minister Shimon Peres in his various capacities, Yona Bartal met royalty, heads of state, prime ministers, and other distinguished figures.
Still, few things excited her more than returning to her native Lithuania to represent Israel at an international longevity conference.
Not only that, but she actually spoke in the Lithuanian Parliament. When her late parents left Lithuania with their three-year-old daughter, they could never have imagined the heights to which she would rise.
Now a petite 73-year-old grandmother who looks nowhere near her age, Bartal laughs and says that Peres was the perfect model for longevity. Peres was 83 years old when elected as president.
He served the full seven-year term, traveled abroad frequently, and his mind remained sharp. He continued working at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa after completing nearly 70 years of public service.
Bartal and other long-time members of his staff went with him to Jaffa, and, following his death in 2016, most are still there, embracing and continuing his vision of a constantly innovative Israel.
Bartal founded the Peres Circle of Friends, of which she is the executive director. Her list of contacts, assembled over the years while working with Peres, spans the world, and she remains in regular communication with many present and former world leaders.
Her visit to Vilnius was as a member of a delegation of the Israel-Lithuania Chamber of Commerce. In Lithuania, she was warmly received by Israel’s Ambassador to Lithuania, Shelly Hugler Livne, and Juozas Olekas, the speaker of the parliament, who introduced her to the Finance and Culture Ministries as well as to other dignitaries.
Bartal also met longevity researchers and experts from the US, UK, Latvia, and other countries.
When it was her turn to speak, she briefed participants on what Israel was advancing in the field of longevity. She noted that although Israel spends only 7.6% of its GDP on health, which is less than most countries in the world, Israelis tend to live longer than residents of other countries.
Bartal was pleasantly surprised by the warm reception her speech received, given all the negative criticisms hurled at Israel since October 7.
A guide put at her disposal by Faina Kukliansky, the head of the Jewish community, who took Bartal to the house where she was born. This was quite an emotional moment for Bartal.
Kukliansky also invited Bartal to lunch and gave her a comprehensive rundown of the Jewish community’s activities, including the opening of a new Jewish community center.
She also indicated that she would like to be the Lithuanian representative of the Peres Center.
Further, Bartal was particularly pleased and proud that the conference’s initiator was Dr. Ilia Stambler, who, she said, did Israel proud.
Stambler is the chief science officer and chairman of the Israel Vetek (Seniority) Association - the Movement for Longevity Quality of Life.
Interestingly, there were several Biblical figures in the past, including Moses, who lived into their triple digits. This is no longer rare in many parts of the world and has long been a feature among residents of isolated villages in the Carpathian Mountains, for instance.
Now that she has reestablished her ties with Lithuania, Bartal intends to continue working with the bilateral chamber of commerce to strengthen trade relations between Israel and Lithuania.
What Bartal and other longevity enthusiasts have to contend with is the State Comptroller’s Office’s report on Israel’s lack of preparedness to deal with an aging population.
When heads of state go abroad on official visits, their spouses are usually included in their delegations.
Yet, they seldom receive much media attention, unless they are celebrities in their own right, as for instance Hilary Clinton or Carla Bruni, the singer, actress, and fashion model who is married to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
When Fardowsa Mohamed Roble accompanied her husband, Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, to Israel, the media focused on him rather than on her.
Notably, articulate in her own right, her itinerary had much in common with the usual one reserved for presidential wives - children and health.
These two elements are combined at Shalva, the Israel Association for the Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.
After touring the facility, seeing smiling children and chatting with their families and Shalva staff, Somaliland’s first lady said that what she had witnessed was inspiring.
Mohamed Roble added that she would like to set up a similar project in Somaliland to bring hope to families who have children and adults with disabilities in their midst.
There is growing international interest in the model created by Shalva's founders, Rabbi Kalman Samuels and his wife, Malki Samuels, after they could not find an organization or institution suitable for their deaf and blind son, Yossi. The couple located expert therapists and decided to help other families in similar circumstances to their own.
So Shalva was born and continued to grow, aiming to give children who once had a hopeless future a future filled with promise, recognition of their talents and abilities, and a life of dignity.
“It was a great honor to welcome First Lady Fardowsa Mohamed Roble to Shalva during her first visit to Israel,” Rabbi Samuels said.
“Seeing her moved by our children and inspired by their strength was deeply meaningful. Shalva was built on the belief that every child has infinite potential, and we are humbled that this message is now touching leaders and communities around the world,” he said.
Politics is an essential component of diplomacy, but bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral relationships are not based solely on politics.
Academic cooperation and exchanges are another vital factor present in the relations between India and Israel.
When Jitender Pal “JP” Singh, India’s ambassador to Israel, visited Bar-Ilan University last week, his purpose was to strengthen academic, research, and cultural connections between the two countries.
Singh was welcomed by the institution’s president, Prof. Arie Zaban, and introduced to faculty members and researchers at BIU’s International School and libraries, as well as senior staff from other departments.
The visit included the inauguration of a new book collection dedicated to Indian culture. This inauguration was marked by a festive ribbon-cutting ceremony at which Singh formally donated a collection of books on Indian culture.
Singh also met with Indian students studying at BIU and interacted with them. They were delighted to meet the ambassador, whose presence was like a touch of home. Singh did not leave the campus empty-handed.
David Benayem, the curator of the university’s manuscripts, rare books, and Judaica collection, presented Singh with rare treasures from the division’s stockpile.
These included items directly related to India and the Jewish community of Cochin, one of the most ancient Jewish communities in India, which claims to date back to the era of King Solomon.
There was a lot of awareness of India in Israel last week, and more awareness of Israel in India, as Indian media outlets published widespread coverage of the Wolf Prize, Israel’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize, with an annual awards ceremony at the Knesset.
This year, for the first time ever, a brilliant Indian-born academic was among the recipients of the Wolf Prize.
Jainendra K. Jain, a theoretical physicist whose research enabled him to transform quantum physics, was chosen as the recipient of the award.
Jain said the prize had given him more than he could ever have imagined when he began his journey as a young boy growing up in rural Rajasthan.
Assisted and encouraged by his parents and teachers, Jain moved to the US and studied at Yale University. He currently holds prestigious positions at the Pennsylvania State University.
One last word related to India. The Indian embassy, which has been hosting Yoga sessions around the country, held its largest gathering last Sunday when hundreds of Yoga enthusiasts showed up at the Tel Aviv Post for International Yoga Day.
The theme this year was “Yoga for healthy aging.” Anat Shpigler, a senior instructor at EllaYoga, led a collective session.
Ambassador Singh, who was present, noted that the countrywide celebration of International Yoga Day was a testament to the integral role of yoga in the lives of Israelis.
Longevity and healthy aging are currently high on Israel’s national agenda - at least unofficially.
Property developers are now building luxurious retirement homes and sheltered living facilities that include a variety of daily, social, cultural, and sporting events, offering something for everyone, at a price that can be hefty for some.
Community centers are offering more programs for seniors, and more people in their eighties and nineties are entering second and third marriages. Romance has no age limit.
Universities are also conducting more intensive research on aging-related topics.
The Ben-Gurion University of the Negev released information this week about a study in which balance and the speed with which a person can perform a voluntary step are indicators of long-term survival.
The study was led by Prof. Itshak Melzer from BGU’s Physical Therapy Department, together with colleagues Ofri Gans-Or, Anat Reiner-Benaim, and Iuly Treger from BGU and Soroka Medical Center, in collaboration with Dr. Lars Oddsson of the University of Minnesota.
With regard to aging, certain members of the Likud are reading the writing on the wall, where the message is that the party needs new blood - young, talented people, some who have never been involved with politics before.
There is a general feeling among long-time politicians that they have lost the public’s trust. In order to regain it, they need new faces in the Knesset.
The truth is that with every Knesset election, new faces and new parties are vying for mandates, but very seldom do they succeed in passing the threshold, which will give them at least one seat and one vote in the Knesset.
Standing Together, a joint Jewish-Arab party, growing rapidly since October 7
There is one new party that may actually succeed where others have failed. If it does, it may also take votes away from left-wing and Arab parties.
The new player on the block is Standing Together, a joint Jewish-Arab party led by Rula Daood and Alon-Lee Green.
Their movement has grown rapidly since the October 7 massacre, yet it has only recently transformed into a political party.
One of its leading activists is Yonatan Zeigen, the son of legendary peace activist Vivian Silver, whom Hamas murdered.
At this moment in time, it is difficult to tell how the wider public will react to Standing Together. But the name of the party suggests that co-existence, which has been so elusive, is indeed possible.
Israel’s Jewish community is not going anywhere, nor is its Arab community. Destined to occupy the same territory ad infinitum, some people from both sides have decided to stand together and to focus on mutual values. It’s a start that could well be the forerunner of a new era.
The need for revitalizing forces was sadly obvious at the annual B’nai B’rith World Center - Jerusalem’s 2026 Journalism Award for Excellence in Diaspora Reportage.
Of the crowd gathered in the auditorium of the Konrad Adenauer Conference Center in Jerusalem’s Mishkenot Sha’ananim, probably the youngest person in the room was print media winner Zev Stub, the Diaspora affairs correspondent for The Times of Israel, and he already sports a gray beard.
Most of the audience were B’nai B’rith stalwarts, and more power to them for continuing to support and promote the organization. But a more youthful infusion could do wonders.
Awards ceremonies are, in general, festive occasions.
Still, this time, there was a somewhat sad note when Oren Nahari, one of Israel’s most versatile journalists with an amazing range of knowledge and an enviable record of achievements, was wheeled on stage to receive a lifetime achievement award.
Nahari, 70, revealed in March that he had been diagnosed with ALS. At that time, he was still walking - with difficulty - and with the aid of two canes. Since then, his condition has deteriorated, and he can no longer walk.
Apparently, his hands have also been affected, as he was unable to hold the text of his speech, so someone had to hold it for him. But his mind, his wit, and his sense of humor remained intact.
One of the things he hoped to do when struck by illness was to complete a book he was writing with military expert Yoav Limor on some of the major battles that changed history. He succeeded in doing that and saw the finished product only a few days later.
At the ceremony, Nahari apologized, saying that he could not remain to the end due to his health.
Before leaving, he spoke of what Jews had given to the world and mentioned names such as Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Albert Einstein, and Franz Kafka.
In referring to his exploration of the Jewish world, he noted that while there were many similarities between Jews in one country and the next, there were also many differences.
An interesting example that goes beyond Sephardim and Ashkenazim was the Jewish community in French and Italian Morocco, whose lifestyles were remarkably different.
Nahari urged members of the audience, in particular Jewish journalists, to continue preserving and telling the Jewish story, “Because journalism is the first draft of history.”
Israeli journalist Tamar Ish Shalom, who is in the US with her Jewish Crossroads podcast, for which she won the award in the electronic media category, is a second-time winner. She delivered her victory speech via video.
Twelve years ago, B’nai B’rith decided to recognize members of the entertainment industry who, through their music and singing, have been instrumental in bringing Diaspora Jews closer to Israel.
This year’s winner was Hanan Yovel, who is not only a good guitarist and singer but also has a long string of anecdotes that he tells with interest.
There is always a keynote speaker at the event, and this time it was David Horovitz, the founding editor-in-chief of The Times of Israel, and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post and its flagship magazine, The Jerusalem Report.
It’s hard to tell whether Horovitz is a better writer than an orator or vice versa. Suffice to say that he is exemplary at both.
Horovitz has lived in Israel for much longer than in his native Britain, and speaks Hebrew without any trace of a British accent.
But when he speaks English, he’s as British as they come, with a superb vocabulary punctuated by thought-provoking asides.
He gave a fascinating talk about his visit to Damascus last year. Although he traveled on his British passport, he made no secret of the fact that he was based in Jerusalem or the nature of his publication. This didn’t seem to bother anyone in Syria.
Before launching into his address, Horovitz said that it was incumbent on him to say something about journalism.
Traditional journalism is a fading profession as panelists, pontificators, and analysts take over from the reporter in the field.
Horovitz also pointed to the dangers of AI, which “synthesizes material and is not always accurate.”
“Fewer people are reporting on what’s going on, and governments are increasingly seeking to impinge on journalism,” he said, adding that “independent journalism is essential.”
Despite all the benefits of AI that are being heralded far and wide, The Marker, the economic supplement of Haaretz, reported last week that 1,500 hi-tech executives had been dismissed in recent weeks, and had been told that AI can do their jobs better.
Among those interviewed, one executive remarked that her diary had been crammed with appointments for the days ahead, and that she suddenly had to erase them all.
Sociologist and labor relations expert Dr. Avi Schneider said, “Nothing prepares you for the moment when the phone stops ringing.”
He continued, “Yesterday, you knew who you were. You had a title, and suddenly, everything is canceled. For years, hi-tech was the Israeli dream: Earn a degree, enter a junior executive role, and succeed...Today, that dream has been shattered. Not only are people losing their sense of security, but many young people are losing the dream that sustained them."
Its possibilities so enrapture AI promoters that they ignore its dangers. Some say that it is gradually moving toward performing tasks that, since the beginning of time, have been the prerogative of God.
We should remember the verse in the Book of Exodus in which God warns that He is a jealous God who will visit the iniquities of the fathers on the children.
Governments around the world would do well to set strictly supervised limits on what AI can be permitted to do. Otherwise, it might be no less dangerous to humanity than nuclear arms.
It's that time of year again when military and security experts, judicial figures, diplomats, business executives, and leading political figures from Israel and abroad come together for Reichman University’s annual Herzliya Conference.
The summit will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 30 and July 1, at Reichman University’s Institute for Policy and Strategy.
Among the many distinguished speakers will be Amos Hochstein, a former senior adviser to the US president and Middle East negotiator; former US ambassador to Israel Daniel (Dan) Shapiro; and EU Ambassador to Israel Michael Mann.
Rounding up the list are former chief justice Aharon Barak, former defense minister Moshe “Bogie” Yaalon, venture capitalist Nechemia “Chemi” Jacob Peres, former justice minister of Canada Irwin Cotler, along with former police commissioners, political party leaders, several well-known television personalities, and other figures of note.
The conference will be broadcast live on the institute’s website.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Jerusalem Post or its affiliates.