Close partners
Researchers were among the pioneers of German-Israeli relations. Contacts have remained intense and extremely lively to this day.
German-Israeli scientific cooperation is regarded as a key pioneer of diplomatic relations: back in 1959, the Weizmann Institut for Science in Rehovot invited a German delegation from the Max Planck Society to Israel, contacts which later resulted in the programmes of the Minerva Stiftung – to this day a core element of cooperation between the two countries. From the outset, both sides were keen to enable joint research at the highest level while at the same time forging close personal and institutional friendships and links. In 2015, which marks the anniversary of German-Israeli relations, German and Israeli research institutions will be celebrating their diverse and longstanding partnerships.
Cooperation in science and research is flanked by programmes run within the framework of the interministerial cooperation that has existed since 1973 between Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and its Israeli counterparts, the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology and Space (MOST) and the Ministry of Economy (MOE). The most important topics of joint research include water technology, marine research, biotechnology and civil security research. Besides the programmes of the Minerva Stiftung, the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), German-Israeli Project Cooperation (DIP) and the Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Humanities play a particularly important role. Cooperation with Israeli partners is also funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). At the 2014 intergovernmental consultations in Jerusalem, both governments emphasised the importance of joint research and signed a “joint declaration for increased cooperation in science, research and technology”.
Israel’s participation in the European Union’s new Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and innovation is a further important milestone in the continuation of this unique success story. ▪
