UK's Stephen Hawking set to visit Israel in June

The renowned astrophysicist will take part in the fifth annual Presidential Conference 'Facing Tomorrow.'

Stephen Hawking 311 (photo credit: Bloomberg News)
Stephen Hawking 311
(photo credit: Bloomberg News)
The British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, 71, will arrive in Israel this coming June to take part in the fifth President’s Conference, which features the tagline “Facing Tomorrow,” it was announced on Wednesday.
Hawking’s last visit to Israel took place in 2006, when he was invited by the British Embassy to tour Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as meet with local scientists and academics.
For decades now, Hawking has suffered from ALS disease, which has shut down movement in his entire body but not affected his mental fitness.
He is mainly known for the authorship of his book, A Briefer History of Time, which describes the development that has taken place since the Big Bang.
Hawking is also known as someone who does not believe in life after death, and has declared more than once, “Science will win the war against religion.”
He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he received from United States President Barack Obama in 2009, and his struggle with life in a wheelchair has made him a cultural icon.
Hawking is the head of the Practical Mathematics and Physics Department of Cambridge University.