Minister Miri Regev, who is in charge of events for the 75th Independence Day of the State of Israel, today informed Nina Avidar, co-founder and honorary chairwoman of the ISEF Foundation, that she had chosen her from among the recommendations of the public advisory committee to light a bonfire on Mount Herzl on Independence Day.
Nina was born in Alexandria, Egypt. In the 1950s, Nina worked in Aliya youth camps in France and Israel, where she met young people whose fate would become her life's work: "I saw the children, with sparks of wisdom in their eyes, with no chance of getting a good education and fulfilling themselves. It broke my heart, for them and for all the people of Israel."
Young Nina turned to the Jewish philanthropist Edmond Safra with a pioneering idea - the establishment of a fund that would help young people who immigrated from Eastern countries realize their educational potential. From then until today, under the leadership of Nina as the president of the foundation, ISEF was and still is the leading philanthropic group in the development of social and academic leadership in Israel.
Minister Regev commented: "Nina is a pioneer in the field of narrowing the gaps through education and higher education. She was the first to recognize the need to provide scholarships to underprivileged students and thanks to her, Israeli society has been blessed with great young men and women who are leading today in research, medicine, law, government, academia, business and more."