Dynamic exchanges

 

Israelis and Germans are highly interested in the arts, music, theater and literature of each other's country. That this interest never ceases to grow is shown by the increasing number of events.

 

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is one of Israel's most important museums. In November, 2011, the museum commissioned a new futurist building. It was designed by Preston Scott Cohen. Part of the money for it came from an  association of donors based in Germany. The building is thus a striking manifestation of the close cultural ties existing between Israel and Germany. The diversity of these contacts manifests itself in the large numbers of cultural activities and of milestones in the bilateral relationship comprising it.

Many of the more than 100 partnerships concluded between cities in Germany and Israel are attributable to friendships between Germans and Israelis dating back to the end of the 1950s. The first of such partnerships was entered into in 1966 – and thus one year after the assumption of diplomatic relations – by Berlin's Charlottenburg borough and by Or Yehuda. These civic partnerships constitute today a major platform for the maintenance of the network of multifaceted and vibrant exchanges of culture between Germany and Israel.

 

The fascination of Berlin

 

Such exchanges are required to satisfy the ever-growing interest in and curiosity about the culture of the respective other country. One of 2013's cultural highlights in Tel Aviv was its “Berlin Dayz”. Each of the “days” in the festival's two months was jam-packed with film, design and music from Berlin. Germany's capital was thus presented as a fascinating, pulsating hub of the arts. This fascination casts its spell upon many young Israeli creatives.

This has been matched by Germany's strongly-growing interest in Israeli culture. Films from Israel – including such prize-winning movies as “Beaufort”, “Waltz with Bashir” and “Ajami” - are staples of Germany's film festivals. They are thus well-known to German cineasts.  Germany's ballet scene flocks to attend performances by such great Israeli ensembles as the Batsheva Dance Company and the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. Israeli authors are prized guests at Germany's international book fairs in Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig. Amos Oz and David Grossman have won Germany's most renowned prizes for literature. The Israeli writer Zeruya Shalev has millions of readers in Germany.

 

A large number of sponsors

 

A large number of organizations have devoted themselves to fostering exchanges of literature, dance, music and theater – on all levels - between Israel and Germany. Among these are in Israel the German embassy and Goethe Institute.  In Germany, this role is played by the cultural departments of the Israeli embassy in Berlin and the Israeli consulate general in Munich. In  2014, the DAAD German Academic Exchange Service commissioned its Information Center (IC) in Tel Aviv. DAAD's docents and lecturers work in Jerusalem, Haifa and Be'ersheba. DAAD and Germany's ifa Institute for International Relationships operates programs in Israel for artists. Germany's political foundations run wide-ranging educational programs in Israel. Also active in pursuing cultural exchanges with Israel are Germany's Protestant and Catholic churches and the institutions they support. This activity is also undertaken by Germany's states, countries and communities. Many of Germany's major foundations support societal operations.

 

German as a foreign language

 

German is becoming a foreign language to be learned in Israel. The history-engendered reservations once held by many Israelis vis-à-vis German have become scarcely noticeable in modern daily life in the country. This is the conclusion reached by the “German in Israel” symposium held in January 2012 in Tel Aviv by the Society for the German Language.  In actual fact, demand is getting stronger and stronger for the courses on German offered in Israel by the Goethe Institute. Such courses are virtually booked up.  Under the auspices of its educational outreach, the Goethe Institute in Israel offers professional education to teachers of German at all Israel's institutions of education. Goethe Institution also undertakes campaigns and competitions designed to foster interest in German.

The curricula of Israeli's schools do not yet generally include classes in German.  The “Schools: partners for the future” initiative (known by its German acronym of PASCH) maintained by Germany's Federal Foreign Office has fostered the teaching of German at five Jewish and Arabic schools in Israel. The Rabin High School in Eilat offers, in a first, a Step One (B1 level) diploma in proficiency in German to its graduates.

In a corresponding move, German has been offered since autumn 2014 as an elective language – along with English, French, Russian and Arabic – at four pilot schools in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. This pilot project is being facilitated by Germany's ZfA Central Office of Education Abroad. The starting up of the project was due to an initiative jointly pursued by the organizations of partnerships participating in the “Network for German” association, and to Israel's ministry of education.

 

The German Israeli Future Forum was founded in 2007 to recruit young persons interested in furthering the unique relationship existing between Germany and Israel. The plan to found such a forum, which is maintained by a joint foundation, was formulated by the meeting in 2005 of the two countries' presidents. The occasion was the 40th anniversary of the assumption of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel. The Future Forum provides support to innovative, sustainable and future-oriented projects undertaken by students, other young persons and other specialists in the areas of culture, business, the sciences and media. The Forum thus forms a firm foundation for the cultivation in the years to come of the relationships between Germany and Israel.