Jewish schoolchildren to get ‘Israel experience’

Plans for a groundbreaking Israel experience day for Jewish schoolchildren have been unveiled by the Israeli Ambassador.

Hundreds of sixthformers from every Jewish school in Britain will take part this summer in an event – a joint project of the Embassy, UJIA and the Jewish Agency – that Daniel Taub hopes will leave participants “more informed about Israel and more prepared for campus life”. He said during the interview, marking Israel’s birthday: “It will run along three tracks: culture, tech and politics.”

The envoy added that the Embassy was working on a range of initiatives to “deepen our relationship with different communities” including a Hebrew study programme with parts of the Christian community and an initiative with young entrepreneurs, as well as increasing the number of delegations to the country.

“Israel is a country with many doors and our job is to give out the keys to as many doors as possible. Today there are ways for people to engage with Israel through their passion for social justice, culture, intellectual pursuits, business. We would encourage people to bring their passions and use them to build bridges with Israel.”

Reflecting on the “remarkable” visits by David Cameron and Ed Miliband, Taub said: “The fact they were able to take time out to visit and deepen their understanding and show support for Israel is a warming statement of the relationship between the UK and Israel.

“Beyond the warm words of support the fact that the trips touched on so many areas of cooperation between Israel and the United kingdom was also tremendously important. The prime minister took  a significant delegation of business leaders that explored cooperation in a wide range of fields and that’s a reflection of the fact that over the last decade we’ve been able to double bilateral trade – and we’re working to expand it further.”

As the country gets ready to celebrate  its 66th birthday, he said one of the greatest challenges facing Israel is narrowing the increasing gaps in society. But he said that if, at any previous point in Jewish history, “our grandparents or great -grandparents could have walked down any street in Israel today it would vastly exceed their wildest dreams. That is no a reason to give up on improving Israeli society but it does suggest we should pause for a moment and realise what cause we have for celebration.”