Bar-Ilan University celebrated its 70th anniversary on Monday night with a gala in Ramat Gan at which it awarded honorary doctorates to Israeli actress Gal Gadot, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and other prominent figures.
Gadot, who received the degree for her achievements in film and advocacy for Israel, reflected on the three years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the rise of antisemitism around the world.
“We’ve experienced loss, fear and uncertainty here in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world,” she said. “Antisemitism has always been with us, and unfortunately, it’s not going away.”
“As an Israeli and a Jewish woman working internationally, I feel the distance between the home I know and the way we’re sometimes portrayed from the outside. No matter how far I travel, Israel’s always my home. These are my people, my family.”
With Israelis preparing to vote the next day, Gadot urged citizens to exercise their democratic rights.
“In just a few hours, the polls will open for what may be the most momentous election this country has seen in years, or even ever,” she said.
“This is the moment when we must all show up and exercise the most powerful civic right we have: the right to vote, to vote according to our beliefs, with a sense of responsibility for the people, women and men, who call it home.”
Gadot also invoked the Hebrew concept of arvut hadadit, or mutual responsibility, which she described as “one of the most fundamental values that has always connected us.”
She illustrated the idea by recalling what she tells her daughter to do if she is caught alone outside during a rocket siren.
“You find someone, even a stranger, and you go with them to a safe place,” Gadot said.
“In so many ways we truly are one big family,” she added. “I believe that light will always overcome darkness, and I believe that this deep sense of mutual responsibility, arvut hadadit, is what will bring us back together.”
Gadot also praised Bar-Ilan’s coexistence programs, saying Israel’s future would be built “through getting to know one another, through education, creativity and working side by side.”
The Oct. 26 gala, which concluded Bar-Ilan’s 70th-anniversary celebrations, was attended by university President Prof. Arie Zaban, trustees, philanthropists and guests from Israel and abroad.
Honorary doctorates were also awarded to Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar; Sivan Yaari, founder and CEO of Africa Innovation; and philanthropist Sandy Frankel, a trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust.
The university said the degrees recognized contributions to Israel, the Jewish people and society in the fields of culture, peace, education, philanthropy and social action.
