The Israeli Institute of Technology will honour the outgoing German Chancellor for her ongoing commitment to Israel
Outgoing German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is to receive an honorary doctorate from Technion when she visits Israel this weekend.
Citing her strong and continued support for the state of Israel and her unrelenting fight against anti-Semitism and racism, the Israeli Institute of Technology will give the award during a ceremony at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
She will also meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, participate in a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, visit Yad Vashem and join a roundtable at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv as part of her farewell visit before she retires from politics.
Throughout her 16 years in power, she has visited Israel several times and called its security one of Germany’s core national interests and of crucial priority in foreign policy.
Congratulating the new government in June, she is reported to have said that Germany and Israel were “connected by a unique friendship that we want to strengthen further.”
Director of Technion UK, Alan Aziz, says: “The honorary doctorate in recognition of Angela Merkel’s leadership which is grounded in principles of equality, freedom and human rights could not be more warranted, and I am proud that our Israeli Institute of Technology has the honour of awarding it to her. “Anyone who works to strengthen ties with Israel – especially pertinent in this case – deserves to be applauded, and I’m delighted that we will now forever be associated with her in this positive way.”