Visitors
Hand in Hand has attracted international attention for our ground-breaking educational model and shared community frameworks.
Below are some of the prominent visitors who took time to see our school and/or meet with our students, teachers, parents, and community members throughout the country:
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin
Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Mourad
Pope Francis I
US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power
“You are proof that we can live together in peace and that we can’t let the difficult experiences, like what you went through this week, harm our faith in our ability to live together.”
–President Reuven Rivlin, Following the December 2014 arson attack
Below is the full list of prominent visitors from 2013-18:
Israel
President Reuven Rivlin
Justice Minister Tsippi Livni
Education Minister Shai Piron
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai
Taybe Mayor Shua Mansour Masarwa
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav
“It is important that Jewish and Arab children learn together – next to each other, on the same desk. This will ensure that they will not become enemies.”
–Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, January 2016
Knesset Members: Dov Lipman; Afu Agbaria; Dov Khenin; Uri Ariel; Moshe Feiglin; Ahmed Tibi; Rachel Azaria
Director of Ministry of Justice Emi Palmor
Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, Chair of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education in Israel
Rabbi Benny Lau
Jerusalem City council members Tami Nir and Rachel Azaria (then Deputy Mayor)
“There are brave people in this city who are creating the Jerusalem of the future for all of us. People here at this school look complexity in the eye and move forward together.”
–Rachel Azaria, December 2014
North & South America
US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power
“You are the best ambassadors peace can possibly have.”
–Ambassador Samantha Power, February 2016
US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and his wife Julie Fisher
Her Excellency Sharon Johnston, Wife of the Governor General of Canada
Consul General Michael Ratney
Mayor of New York Bill DeBlasio
Members of the Canadian Parliament
Premier of Quebec Philippe Couillard
AFT President Randi Weingarten
Argentinian Education Minister Esteban Bullrich
Celebrities: Lavar Burton; Sean Penn; Chelsea Handler
US-based Israel organizations:
- AIPAC President Bob Cohen
- JStreet President Jeremy Ben-Ami
- Jewish Agency Board of Governors
Politicians
- US Senators: Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO); Senator Ed Markey (D-MA); Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
- Members of the US House of Representatives: Suzanne Marie Bonamici (D-OR); Susan Davis Alpert, (D-CA); John Thomas Graves, (R-GA); Morgan Griffith, (R-VA); Janice Kay Hahn, (D-CA); Randall Mark Hultgren, (R-IL); Steve Israel, (D-NY); William James Pascrell (D-NJ); Jerrold Lewis Nadler, (D-NY); Todd Young (R-IN); Steve Stivers (R-OH); Jim Renacci (R-OH); Alan Grayson (D-FL); Karen Bass (D-CA); Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
- First Lady of Mississippi Mrs. Deborah Bryant
- Massachusetts State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg
- 15 New York City Council members
Europe & Asia
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz
Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern
Austrian Education Minister Sonja Hammerschmid
Dutch Ambassador to Israel Gilles Beschoor Plug
Finnish Ambassador Leena-Kaisa Mikkola
German First Lady Daniela Schadt
German Ambassador Andreas Michaelis
Members of the Irish Parliament
Italian Ambassador Francesco Talò and Senator Nicola Latorre
Japanese First Lady Akie Abe
Mayor Arne Sigtenbjerggaard of Vejle, Denmark
Pope Francis I
Polish First Lady Mrs. Anna Komorowska
President-Minister of German State of Hesse Volker Bouffier
Swiss Ambassador to Israel Jean-Daniel Ruch
Swedish Parliament Deputy Speaker Mrs. Susanne Eberstein, and other Swedish Parliament Members
UK Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey
