News & Updates

All News

• February 3, 2026

  Art is the only language we speak. It's irrelevant where everyone came from

  “Art is the only language we speak. It’s irrelevant where everyone came from,” Maariv, February 3, 2026 A group of eight Israeli artists, Jews and Arabs, from all over the country, gathered in Givat Haviva for three months of creatin and living together in one space. In advance of their closing exhibit, “No Space Between Us,” they spoke with Maariv about their experiences in the Givat Haviva Joint Center for the Arts residency program. “The participants put aside their lives, their homes, not work. They try very hard to get here, and everything takes them very much out of their comfort zone,’’ says Anat Lidror, director of the residency program and curator of the Givat Haviva Art Gallery. “They are in a different situation: a common society, a new place, new people and also a situation of developing a personal process. It’s a very exposed place, and many times we feel that we need to give them this space, to get to know each other. There is no better way to get to know each other than to live 24/7 together.”

• 
  January 25, 2026

  OPED: Israel-Diaspora Partnering for Shared Society

  Friends of Givat Haviva Executive Director Jonathan Lack, in his Times of Israel oped, urges Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, and American Jews, to work together with to build a shared society.

Recent Events

All Events

• 

  Jan

  19

  Special Briefing: Survey of Israeli Jews, Arabs

  On Monday, January 19th, 12 pm (ET) Friends of Givat Haviva held a special briefing on the new Givat Haviva survey of Israeli Jewish and Arab citizens. The annual Givat Haviva Partnership Index provides vital insights into public opinion on critical issues affecting Jewish-Arab relations in Israel and the work of Givat Haviva. Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella, Director of Strategy Mohammad Darawshe, and Adi Sidi, presented the survey results and discussed their implications for advancing Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. This special briefing was the first time the Givat Haviva 2026 Partnership Index was presented in English, and follows the Givat Haviva Conference for a Shared Society that took place on January 6.
• 

  Jan

  6

  Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella Opens Shared Society Conference

  The 2026 Givat Haviva conference for a shared society comes at a time when “we are more divided, more hateful, and more fearful of one another then ever. This government continues to incite us against each other,” Givat Haviva CEO Michal Sella declared in her address opening the January 6 event, attended in person by more than 500 people. “This conference is taking place at a critical moment, a volatile moment, a moment in which the ground could slip from beneath our feet,” Sella said. “Therefore, it is also a moment when responsibility passes to us: to civil society, to local leadership, to educators – to demand from our politicians and leaders, to struggle, and to propose an alternative.” “A shared society is not a luxury,” Sella emphasized. “It is a condition for security, for democracy, and for a future in this land. Without equality, without fair law enforcement, and without civic and political partnership – there will be no future here.” Sella thanked the more conference participants “for choosing to come and say: we do not give up. This is the time for repair, recovery, and partnership.” Read Michal Sella’s full speech.