Pictured H.E. Simona Frankel Ambassador of Israel to Belgium and Luxembourg.
Israeli Independence is fêted annually on 5 Iyar according to the Hebrew calendar, the corresponding Gregorian date this year was 12 May 2016.
It entails the State of Israel’s establishment, or more precisely the date when its independence was proclaimed by Israeli first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion after publicly reading the Israeli Declaration of Independence on 5 Iyar 5708/14 May 1948.
In Brussels a concert and subsequent reception were jointly hosted by the missions of Israel to Belgium and Luxembourg HE Ambassador Simona Frankel and to the European Union HE Ambassador David Walzer at Flagey Cultural Centre located in the square bearing the same name. Both ambassadors addressed an auditorium full of fellow ambassadors, including US ambassador to Belgium Denise Campbell Bauer, Rwanda’s Olivier Jean-Patrick Nduhungirehe, Philippines’ Victoria Bataclan or Kosovo’s Mimoza Ahmetaj, a plethora of Israeli business people as well as MEPs and members of the EEAS.
After the solemn speeches, an hour-long concert was performed by the world renowned “Jerusalem Quartet” consisting of members Alexander Pavlovsky (first violin), Sergei Bresler (second violin), Ori Kam (viola), and Kyril Zlotnikov (cello). They delighted their audience by playing Beethoven as well as Bartók.
After the concert the Israeli missions offered a reception in the rooms overlooking the Flagey lake.
For more information:
Embassy of Israel to Belgium and Luxembourg (HE Ambassador Simona Frankel): http://embassies.gov.il/language/Pages/default.aspx
Mission of Israel to the EU (HE Ambassador David Walzer): http://embassies.gov.il/eu/Pages/default.aspx
Jerusalem Quartet: www.jerusalem-quartet.com
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All pictures by IsraelinEurope (https://www.facebook.com/IsraelinEurope/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1133022693408364)
