2026 Yakir Bezalel Award presented to David Grossman, Lucy Aharish, Prof. Mike Turner, and Prof. Haviva Pedaya

The Yakir Bezalel Award is presented annually to individuals the Academy wishes to honor for their notable and unique contribution towards education for excellence in art and design, strengthening and developing Israeli society, or promoting the fields of creativity, art, design, architecture and culture, in Israel and around the world.

Over the years, the award has honored retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Prof. Aharon Barak; former President of the State of Israel Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin and his wife, the late Nechama Rivlin; international designer Ron Arad; the late actress Ronit Elkabetz; architect Ada Karmi-Melamede; choreographer Ohad Naharin; and philanthropist, collector, and artist Batia Ofer, among other prominent figures in Israeli culture.

This year’s Yakir Bezalel recipients are writer David Grossman, journalist Lucy Aharish, Prof. Arch. Mike Turner, and Prof. Haviva Pedaya.

David Grossman

The Yakir Bezalel Award is hereby given to David Grossman, for a profound, beautiful, and humane body of literary work, touching both on the inner world of the individual and the complex reality in which we live; for long-standing civic commitment to Israeli society, and courage in speaking out in a moral, clear and consistent voice calling for full civil equality, protection of human rights, democracy, compassion, dialogue, and peace.

Lucy Aharish

The Yakir Bezalel Award is hereby given to Lucy Aharish, for courageous, unique and ground-breaking journalism; for a decisive and consistent call for Jewish-Arab unity and partnership, and a firm stance in the face of a discourse of polarization, division, and incitement; and for an ongoing commitment to promoting dialogue among the communities, cultures, and identities that make up Israeli society.

Prof. Arch. Mike Turner

The Yakir Bezalel Award is hereby given to Prof. Mike Turner, for a lifetime body of work in architectural, academia, and public life that placed heritage conservation at the heart of the planning and cultural discourse in Israel; for building bridges between peoples and communities and creating an infrastructure for regional collaborations; for representing Israel on the global heritage arena; for contributing to the development of research at Bezalel and training generations of architects, designers, and planners.

Prof. Haviva Pedaya

The Yakir Bezalel Award is hereby given to Prof. Haviva Pedaya, for a body of creative, scholarly, and philosophical work connecting worlds of tradition and innovation; for enriching Hebrew culture with conceptual depth, linguistic sensitivity and a broad historical and spiritual perspective; for expanding the boundaries of cultural discourse in Israel and deepening recognition of the spiritual and creative worlds of Mizrahi Jewry.