Yakir Bezalel Award presented this year to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak, Mr. Ilan Kaufthal and artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles

The Yakir Bezalel Award ceremony for 2024 was held on 15.8.24

The Yakir Bezalel Award, equivalent to the “Honorary Doctorate” degree awarded by universities, is bestowed on those whom the Bezalel Academy wishes to honor and thank for their unique contribution to Bezalel in particular, and for their work and contribution to Israeli society and the advancement of the fields of art, design, and Israeli culture in Israel and around the world in general.

This award, which has become an important tradition, is the highest honor awarded by the Academy. This year, the Yakir Bezalel Award was presented to former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Prof. Aharon Barak, Mr. Ilan Kaufthal, and artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles.

Bezalel Academy President, Prof. Adi Stern, said in his speech:

“The Yakir Bezalel ceremony takes on special significance at this time. A time of parallel universes: We are here, in a kind of imaginary routine, and our hearts are there, in a continuous and painful incomprehensible reality.”

I have said that the act of art is an act of resistance. I would add that the act of education is an act of hope. As a lecturer and educator, I have always believed that we can do otherwise. That is how I educated my students. Today, too, I want to believe that doing otherwise is possible. Therefore, this year, we sought to decorate and honor three individuals who, in their work and actions, express, promote, and practice, the values ​​on which Bezalel is founded. Three, who in their work and actions, chose to do otherwise.”

Prof. Aharon Barak

Prof. Aharon Barak, former President of the Supreme Court of Israel, is an Israeli jurist, professor of law and recipient of the Israel Prize for the Study of Law. Aharon Barak’s illustrious and long-standing legal career reflects his deep and steadfast commitment to justice, his dedication to upholding the rule of law and his loyalty to the uncompromising defense of the values ​​of democracy and human rights. His tenure as President of the Supreme Court of Israel was characterized by groundbreaking decisions that shaped the legal field.

Aharon Barak was born in 1936 in Kaunas, Lithuania. The only child of Liba (Leah) Meirovitch, a daughter of a rabbinical family and a revered teacher, and Hirsch (Zvi) Brick, a Zionist activist and lawyer by profession. In 1941, when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Barak miraculously survived the Kinder Aktion (children action) in the ghetto, escaping and hiding with his mother in the house of a Lithuanian peasant. At the end of the war, the family reunited and in 1947, after wandering across Europe, they immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem. His childhood experiences in the ghetto during World War II shaped his worldview and unwavering commitment to justice and the protection of human rights.

At the Hebrew University, he studied law, economics and international relations, graduating with honors. After completing his postdoctoral studies at Harvard Law School, he returned to Israel, and served as a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University. In 1968, he was appointed associate professor and six years later, at 38 years old, became dean of the Faculty of Law. In 1975, Aharon Barak was awarded the Israel Prize in Law.

Between 1975 and 1978, he served as Attorney General. In this role, he was the legal architect of the peace agreement with Egypt. In 1978, he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court, and in 1995, he was appointed President of the Supreme Court. Throughout his years as a judge and president of the Supreme Court, he led a revolution in the Israeli legal system and democracy. He established new norms of checks and balances, expanded the powers of the Supreme Court, encouraged judicial activism, and resolutely fought the politicization of the court while protecting its independence. His rulings and writings, which are studied at the world’s leading academic institutions, have left an indelible mark on Israeli constitutional law and made a tremendous contribution to establishing the rule of law and the fundamental rights of the individual.

At every major crossroads in the last fifty years of the existence and struggles of the State of Israel, Aharon Barak has stood as a beacon, loyal soldier in the service of the law and the state, a knight of human rights, a revered—if sometimes controversial —figure, who has influenced, shaped, led change and left a mark on the life of the nation. Especially today, in times of threat to Israeli democracy, his unique contribution as a loyal defender in the service of justice has not ceased.

The Yakir Bezalel Award was presented to Professor Aharon Barak for his commitment to justice, upholding the rule of law and defending the values ​​of democracy and human rights. For courageous rulings and groundbreaking decisions that led change and reshaped the legal and social landscape in Israel. For his inspiration, influence and extraordinary contribution to building a humane, liberal and pluralistic Israel.

Artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles

Award-winning international artist Mierle Laderman Ukekles is one of the leading and most respected creators in the world of contemporary art. Her revolutionary art reshaped the relationship between activist art and everyday life, blurring the boundaries between manual labor and artistic performance, between feminism and the environment.

Born in Denver, Colorado in 1939, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and history from Barnard College and then went on to pursue a master’s degree in integrated arts at New York University.

For six decades, she has created humane and uncompromising art that has reshaped the field of contemporary art. She sees art as a means to promote freedom and explores how to create a thriving world that is benevolent and does not silence the voice of the individual.

Beginning in 1977, she served as the “artist in residence” for the New York City Department of Sanitation. During this time, she created her work Touch Sanitation (1979–80), in which she visited 59 municipal sanitation districts to thank and shake the hands of the city’s 8,500 sanitation workers. This work was ranked third on New York City’s list of the 100 most important works of art.

Her works, which have been exhibited around the world, are included in the collections of leading museums and galleries, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Chicago Art Institute, the Barbican Arts Center, London, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, the Berlin Academy of Art, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Over the years, she has been awarded honorary degrees for her work, including an honorary doctorate from the Maine College of Art and Design, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

In addition to her work as an artist, she is also a dedicated educator. In her lectures at the world’s leading universities and academies, she instills in her students the same drive that has guided her throughout her years as an artist—the desire and need to bring about change through art. In 2012, she immigrated to Israel with her husband, Dr. Jack Ukeles, and settled in Jerusalem. In 2016, she joined the faculty of the Master’s Program in Fine Arts at Bezalel, and in this role mentors and nurtures a new generation of Israeli artists.

The Yakir Bezalel Award was presented to artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles for her revolutionary art that challenges the connection between art and everyday life. For her uncompromising support of social struggles through her artistic activity, and for her work to nurture and advance new generations of artists.

Mr. Ilan Kaufthal

Ilan Kaufthal is a leading figure in the corporate world of banking and philanthropy, and a true friend and invaluable partner of Bezalel thanks to his extraordinary humanistic approach and steadfast support of academia in particular and Israel in general. For over a decade, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Bezalel Association in the United States, a position he continues in to this day. As part of his efforts on behalf of Bezalel, he successfully promoted the academy in the United States and led the building campaign for Bezalel’s new campus in downtown Jerusalem.

Ilan was born in 1947 in Czechoslovakia. In 1949, the family immigrated to Israel and settled in Bat Yam. In 1955, they moved to New York, where he studied for a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and physics at Columbia University and a master’s degree in business administration at New York University.

Ilan quickly rose to prominence in the field of finance, holding a series of senior positions at leading international companies, including vice president of mergers and acquisitions at Schroders & Co., vice president of investment banking at Bear, Stearns & Co., and senior advisor at Irving Place Capital. He currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of the consulting firm East Wind Advisors and IDB Bank NY. He also serves on the boards of Tronox Ltd. and Macsteel Ltd.

Ilan combines his business acumen with his keen interest in philanthropy, serving on the boards of the Columbia Irving Medical Center and JVP (Jerusalem Venture Partners Media Fund). In addition, Ilan serves as a trustee of the Russell Berrie Foundation.

While a businessman by profession and training, Ilan has also developed a keen interest and eye for art over the years. In 2008, Ilan began his journey at Bezalel with the encouragement and insistence of Aharon Dovrat, then chairman of the academy’s board. Since then, he has  dedicated himself to the impact of the educational institution and the dream of its return to the center of Jerusalem. Together with Linda, his life partner, and their three children, Ilan has worked tirelessly for Bezalel and its advancement. His unwavering commitment to Bezalel is reflected not only in his extensive activities on behalf of the Academy, but also in his significant personal contributions, including the Linda and Ilan Kaufthal Balcony on the new campus. Ilan is among the cornerstone donors of the Academy and serves on its board of trustees.

The Yakir Bezalel Award was presented to Ilan Kaufthal for his extraordinary dedication and commitment to the advancement of Bezalel, its goals, principles, and values; for his central role as Chairman of the Friends of Bezalel Association in the United States, and for his contribution to the Academy’s development and improvement; for the Academy in particular, and for the advancement of the city of Jerusalem and the State of Israel in general.