Overview
- President Isaac Herzog presented the awards on Oct. 22 at the President’s Residence, recognizing lifetime contributions across medicine, law, culture, technology and media.
- The nine honorees were Miriam Adelson, Yossi Vardi, Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, Justice (ret.) George Karra, Moti Malka, Dr. Avi Ohry, Prof. Dina Porat, author Galila Ron-Feder Amit and Mathias Döpfner of Axel Springer.
- Two recently released hostages, Matan Angrest and Segev Kalfon, attended and were invited onstage during the program.
- Attendees included U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Ambassador David Friedman, German Ambassador Steffen Seibert, Argentine Ambassador Shimon Axel Wahnish, philanthropist Haim Saban, Friede Springer and Axel Springer executive Jan Bayer.
- The medal was established in 2012 by Shimon Peres and is described as the presidency’s highest civilian honor, with recipients selected by an advisory committee chaired by retired Justice Yoram Danziger.