BGU & YOU | Spring 2024

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Toni Young, Chair of the Global Development Committee Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, President

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, together with its associates organizations around the world, began work on the global campaign over three years ago, in October 2020, with the aim of raising the considerable funds needed for expanding into the North Campus in Beer-Sheva and ensuring the University’s ability to thrive in the future. Conceived to facilitate President Chamovitz’s strategic plan for the University over 10 years, and led by Toni Young, the Global Development Committee last met during the Annual Board of Governors Meeting in May 2023 and was scheduled to meet again in Monte Carlo, Monaco in October. The meeting in Monte Carlo was in many ways an experiment. The idea was for the Committee to meet in a place that would have added value beyond being somewhere convenient for people coming from all around the globe. The Prince of Monaco is famously very involved in sustainability and climate change. We believed we could find a common goal with the greater Monaco community over issues of sustainability and that BGU researchers could offer novel solutions for our shared Mediterranean Sea. We also

wanted to learn more about Monaco’s Jewish community.

Obviously, the October meeting was postponed because of the Hamas attack on October 7, but we were able to reschedule for late January 2024, with a revised agenda. Instead of being about sustainability and climate change, the event focused on where the war in Gaza meets both the BGU global community and the Monaco Jewish community. The revised program ultimately turned out to be valuable beyond our expectations. First, we found a Jewish community that was eager to engage with us: to listen and to be heard after October 7. The Hamas attack precipitated crisis and trauma beyond Israel; it affected Jews all over the world. The Global Summit was probably the first event with an Israeli organization to be held post October 7, and was therefore

The event focused on where the war in Gaza meets both the BGU global community and the Monaco Jewish community.