Yad Vashem Chairman to Receive Presidential Award

Chariman Avner Shalev recognized for leadership; hard work prioritizing education

Yad Vashem Hall of Names (photo credit:  REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Yad Vashem Hall of Names
(photo credit: REUTERS/Nir Elias)
Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev is slated to receive the Presidential Medal of Distinction from President Shimon Peres today in recognition of his leadership of the Holocaust memorial and research institution for the past two decades.

Shalev “works tirelessly, employing innovative and original methods, to instill vital Jewish, Zionist and universal values within Israeli and global consciousness, primarily through significant and meaningful Holocaust remembrance,” said former Supreme Court Justice Meir Shamgar, the head of the President’s Advisory Committee.

Among his accomplishments, Shalev “prioritized education, placing it at Yad Vashem's forefront through the establishment of its International School for Holocaust Studies,” a spokesman stated.