Interpreting conferences and events | Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies

Our department’s faculty and alumni interpret regularly in major Israeli and international conferences and events, and are invited by various international and local public and state institutions, such as the UN and the EU agencies, the FBI, the American and French embassies or the Israeli Foreign ministry. Some interpreting roles, as in confidential political negotiations with a previous USSR country and a major international trial in the US, remain classified.

Major events include:

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem in 1977 (Prof. Francine Kaufmann, emerita faculty)

Interpreting for Hebrew-speaking Holocaust survivors in Claude Lanzmann’s films Shoah (1985) and Sobibor (2001) (Prof. Francine Kaufmann)

1991 Madrid Peace Conference (Prof. Francine Kaufmann in situ, Mrs. Shulamit Haran, alumni-turned-faculty, from the Israeli TV studio)

1993 PLO-Israeli Principle agreement signing ceremony at the White House (Mrs. Shulamit Haran from the Israeli TV studio)

Ceremonial signing of the 1994 Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty on Israeli Public Television (Mrs. Shulamit Haran)

4/11/1995 Peace Rally at the Kings of Israel Square (later named Rabin Square after Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who was assassinated in the rally); interpreting for the ambassadors of Jordan, Egypt and Morocco (Mrs. Shulamit Haran)

1999 President Clinton and Hillary Clinton visit in Israel (Mrs. Ruchie Avital, alumni-turned-faculty, Mrs. Shulamit Haran)

2004 French philosopher Alan Finkelkraut’s visit in Israel following his book’s translation into Hebrew - Au nom de l'Autre. Réflexions sur l'antisémitisme qui vient (Mrs. Shulamit Haran – interpreter and book translator)

2005 Simonne Veil former European Parliament president and French senator visit in Israel (Mrs. Shulamit Haran)

2007 Annapolis Peace Conference (Mrs. Merav Rozenblum, alumni)

2009 Bar-Ilan Speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Begin-Sadat Center at Bar-Ilan University (Mrs. Ruchie Avital)

2009 Elders Peace Organization visit in Israel; the delegation included former US President Jimmy Carter, Cleric and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu (Mr. Salih Sawaed, alumni-turned-faculty)

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2012 visit in Israel (Mrs. Tanya Voinova and Mr. Stanislav Chernobilsky, both alumni-turned-faculty)

French President Francois Hollande’s 2013 visit in Israel, including his press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visit at the President’s Residence with Shimon Peres, broadcasted on Israeli Public Television (Mrs. Shulamit Haran, Mrs. Neri Sevenier, Dr. Ruth Morris)

US President Barack Obama’s 2013 visit in Israel and speech at the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Mrs. Merav Rozenblum)

37^th World Zionist Congress held in Jerusalem in 2015 (Dr. Galia Hirsch, alumni-turned-faculty; Mrs. Neri Svenier, alumni-turned-faculty; Mrs. Rina Ben-David, alumni)

Knesset Subcommittee on the Status of the Elderly. Initiated in 2015, its meetings were also devoted to the current situation of Holocaust survivors (Mr. Stanislav Chernobilsky)

2016 visit of Chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko in Israel; this visit by the third highest position in the Russian government was held in the Knesset, President’s Residence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mrs. Tanya Voinova,).

2016 visit of Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature, Mrs. Svetlana Alexievich (Mrs. Tanya Voinova)

2021 workshop on water birth for the Labor and Delivery Department at Sheba Hospital (Dr. Talli Cedar, Mrs. Judith Rubanovsky-Paz)