14/12/2025
Dear Friends,
As we light our Chanukkah candles, we are reminded that a single flame can illuminate what once seemed impossible. In Israel today, amid fear, grief, and polarization, there is a place where, courageously, Jewish and Arab citizens choose to build something different, creating together a shared, democratic future. That place is Givat Haviva, Israel’s leading organization devoted to strengthening Jewish-Arab partnership and equality in Israel.
For 75 years, at Givat Haviva’s 42-acre campus in central Israel, the work of building what Israel’s Declaration of Independence promised: a society of equal citizens, Jewish and Arab, living with mutual respect, shared responsibility, and a common future, is happening. This vision is what we mean by a shared society: not simply living side-by-side, coexisting, but building something together.
This is not theory. It happens every day because people, Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, choose it.
Consider 10-year-olds Samer and Yael, who met last year in a Givat Haviva art camp. When violence escalated in their towns, their families worried that these friendships would fracture. Instead, they asked to video call one another. As other parents joined, Jewish and Arab families formed a WhatsApp group. What began as two children making art together turned into a community refusing to let fear drive them apart. That is what Givat Haviva makes possible.
Your support fuels vital, innovative programs at Givat, yielding real, measurable outcomes:
• 23,000 Arab students in 66 schools are learning Hebrew through our Shared Language program, giving them access to higher education and employment—and to deeper connection with Jewish peers.
• Over 1,100 Jewish and Arab adults studied Arabic at our Institute for Arabic Studies, expanding communication and cultural understanding across society.
• Art, dialogue, and leadership programs for 1,750 Jewish and Arab children build trust at the most formative ages.
• Women’s leadership cohorts and municipal mediation teams are preventing violence, strengthening local partnerships, and cultivating a new generation of shared society leaders.
This is not symbolic work. It is structurally changing Israel’s future.
Every dollar expands opportunities, opens doors, teaches a language, bridges a divide, and protects relationships when they are most fragile. Every donation strengthens the infrastructure of Jewish-Arab partnership in Israel.
The foundation of a shared society, established by the efforts of Givat Haviva is strong. Givat Haviva resumed full operation soon after October 7, and the demand by both Arabs and Jews in Israel for its programs is growing.
Please join us this Chanukkah to help us grow this impact. Your generosity ensures that the light of shared society does not flicker during difficult times, but grows brighter—community by community, classroom by classroom, child by child.
May the lights of this season remind us that even in dark times, hope is built—not wished for.
Please consider a meaningful Chanukkah gift to Friends of Givat Haviva.
Together, we can ensure that Israel’s future is strengthened through equality, partnership, and shared responsibility.
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Email from Friends of Givat Haviva Dear friend, As we light our Chanukkah candles, we are reminded that a single flame can illuminate what once seemed impossible. In Israel today, amid fear, grief,
