On October 25, 2018, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Israel. Together with our team, friends and associates, as well as numerous supporters of the social democratic values, we gathered at the Habayit Hayarok in Tel Aviv. We looked back on our work over the past four decades: from the humble and difficult beginnings to our today’s work as an established and recognized institution with a broad range of activities and partners.
On the occasion of the event, our team produced a video, which shows the history of the FES office in Israel as well as our work. This evening, the movie was screened for the first time. In order to watch the movie, please click here: Film 40 years FES
First, Kurt Beck, former Prime Minister and Chair of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, inaugurated the event. His opening words were followed by two speeches from former Israeli Minister Dr. Yossi Beilin and Martin Schulz, former President of the European Parliament and former Chairman of the SPD. In his speech, Martin Schulz highlighted the challenges of social democracy and emphasized the role of international cooperation. His speech also gave an outlook on the second purpose of the evening. Besides honoring the work of the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, the event provided a platform for analyzing the issues and challenges of social democracy in exchange with international and regional actors. In the following panel discussion, moderated by the Israeli journalist Gal Gabay, Martin Schulz, Itzik Shmuli, Knesset member and member of the Israeli Labor Party, and Tamar Zandberg, Knesset member and leader of the Meretz party, discussed the perspectives of social democracy in Israel and Europe.
We were delighted by the size and diversity of the audience which included many well-known faces and by the participation of politicians from Germany and Israel who share our values. We would like to thank all of our guests for a great evening with fruitful debates. It gave us plenty of new energy to continue our work for the goals of social democracy.
