TAU President Ariel Porat Receives German Accolade

Prof. Ariel Porat, TAU President, visited Frankfurt and met philanthropists and major TAU benefactors Josef and  Bareket Buchmann, both Honorary Doctors of TAU. Josef Buchmann, who serves as Vice Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors, has played a vital role over many decades in building up Tel Aviv University, in fortifying the German-Israeli relationship, and in strengthening the State of Israel.

At Tel Aviv University, in addition to supporting numerous other projects, Mr. Buchmann established the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music; founded the Josef Buchmann Doctoral Fellowship Fund (in cooperation with Goethe University in Frankfurt); and dedicated the Buchmann Faculty of Law in memory of his parents who perished in the Holocaust.

On the occasion of this visit, TAU Governor and President of the German Friends Association, Uwe Becker, presented the new TAU President with the "Hessenzeichen," the traditional symbol of the German federal state of Hessen, in recognition of the strong relationship between Hessen, Frankfurt and Tel Aviv.

Mr. Becker serves as Mayor and Treasurer of the City of Frankfurt and is also the commissioner of the Hessian government for Jewish life and the fight against anti-Semitism. A close friend of the State of Israel, Mr. Becker is well known in Germany for his efforts to counter anti-Semitic tendencies and the BDS movement, and for his contribution to promoting the strong bond between Frankfurt and Tel Aviv.