President Isaac Herzog met with the management of the Wexner Program, as well as its graduates, at the Presidential residence in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Herzog seeks to improve the public service sector in Israel and met with 46 graduates from the Wexner program, hailing from prominent positions in the security and public service sectors to this end.
The graduates have only recently returned from a course at the Kennedy School of Public Administration at the University ofHarvard.
Among the graduates were senior members of the IDF, the security and intelligence communities, the justice system, the health system, and both local government and government offices.
The meeting was attended by the program's president, Elka Abramson, chair of the program's advisory council in Israel, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Ido Nehushtan and CEO Raanan Avital.
"The graduates of the program are the backbone of the public service sector in Israel, they are our pride and joy," Raanan Avital, CEO of the program said.
"The graduates of the program are the backbone of the public service sector in Israel, they are our pride and joy."
Raanan Avital
The graduates demonstrated to President Herzog the added professional value that the program gave them, presenting some of the work that they prepared during the advanced training that will renew and improve the systems in which they serve.
"The participants in this program are the image of the State of Israel at its best. This is who they are - professionals, the best that Israel has to offer," Abramson said.
"The participants in this program are the image of the State of Israel at its best. This is who they are - professionals, the best that Israel has to offer."
Elka Abramson
For the past two years, the program has faced attempts to narrow its work and harm it, but the plan is back on track and it is now fully backed by government ministries and security and intelligence agencies.
Herzog praised the program and its contribution to public service. "Being a public servant is the pinnacle of a fulfilling career due to the sense of meaning that accompanies it, I am a big believer in the public service and I am constantly amazed by the qualities that are accumulated from generation to generation," he said.
"The Wexner program provides participants with three important things - familiarity with all other roles in the public service and an understanding of their inner machinations, the quality and integrity of the public service and exposure to the Jewish people abroad, deepening the connection with the Diaspora," he added.