It was about a year ago that Israel entered the first lockdown. All flights were canceled and after I returned to Israel from the AIPAC Policy Conference I realized that 2020 is going to be different. I couldn’t fall asleep that night, the following day I convened the staff of the Alma Center for a consultation: How can we educate people from all over the world about Israel’s security challenges in the north without meeting them face to face?

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Thanks to the amazing Alma team, who showed flexibility and creativity, we set out on a new path. Very quickly Covid-19 became a challenge and an opportunity. We had invested more time in research and focused on social media. We developed an ability to reach audiences that even before the Corona would not have reached Israel.

During 2020, we uncovered Iranian involvement in Syria, the deployment of Hezbollah in the Syrian Golan Heights, Hezbollah missile launch sites, and more. Our reports gained wide exposure in a variety of languages ​​around the world. We have become a recognized research institute on a global scale while maintaining our uniqueness: we are located in the area we are researching and we believe in reaching people and not just writing about the subject.

We continued to hold webinars on a variety of topics open to the general public or closed for special groups and have made all of our educational programs digital. The Education department was not laid aside for a moment – even if it was impossible to meet face to face.

A year after the Corona crisis began in Israel, I look back with satisfaction and hope that soon we will be able to meet again face to face at the border or the Alma Center. 

The achievements of the past year will remain with us and thus we will be able to make the knowledge about the northern border of Israel accessible to a wide range of audiences, for those who visit Israel and also for those who do not come to the region – and that is our mission.

On the eve of Passover, I would like to wish everyone that we will soon emerge from slavery to freedom, we will be freed all over the world, from masks and lockdowns and we will be able to meet again.

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Sarit Zehavi

Sarit Zehavi

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