2024

Hand in Hand

Israel’s only network of integrated, bi-lingual and multicultural schools and parent communities working to build a shared and equal society between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

Hand in Hand engages in the profound and vital work to raise a new generation, equipped to create a culture of inclusion, hope and respect.

The founders of the State of Israel had a vision that the Jewish People could live in harmony and peace with other inhabitants of the land, whether as equal citizens or side by side in two separate states.  The aspirations towards equality, democracy, and human rights for all to which the State of Israel aspired in its founding documents has been difficult to achieve for reasons that stand at the heart of the current war in Israel.  Where others work on policy and politics, the Hand in Hand schools focus on demonstrating what is possible in Israel: a shared and equal society through the power of education and community-building.

In a nation that has separate school systems for different kinds of Jews and Arabs, Hand in Hand, starting with only 50 children in 1997, has created shared, bilingual schools for Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.  They are based in six campuses and communities throughout Israel: in Jerusalem, the Galilee, Wadi Ara, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Haifa, Kfar Saba, Kafr Qasim, Hof HaCarmel, with new communities being planned. Through its multicultural curriculum and community activities, this vital network is engaging 2,000 students and 3,000 active adults, and having an impact on over 10,000 Jewish and Arab citizens. Hand in Hand’s mission is based on mutual respect for both cultures and languages, and recognition of competing national narratives, and the aspiration of shared and equal citizenship in a democratic state of Israel.

It is an honor to recognize their sacred work, as they work to transform a society riddled with conflict and violence, to one of cooperation, friendship, and equality.

We present the below citation, which accompanies the $15,000 honorarium:


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The 2024 Roger E. Joseph Prize is presented to

Hand in Hand

Whose mission is to build partnership and mutual respect between Jewish and Arab citizens in Israel through a growing network of public, bilingual Jewish-Arab schools and communities throughout the country;

Who are trailblazers in the field of shared education and living, fostering a new generation of Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians, who can overcome the separation, fear, and violence to prove that they can live side by side,
as partners and peers;

Who represent a microcosm of shared society through classroom learning, parent-child activities, civic engagement, lectures and workshops, family gatherings, leadership seminars, facilitated dialogue sessions, language classes, shared holiday celebrations, cultural text study, and community gardens that cultivate friendships, mutual trust, and appreciation, and educate children toward genuine peace.

 Who is advancing Israel’s fastest-growing, integrated social movement embodying the values of equality, pluralism, and multiculturalism, guided by the understanding that partnership and education are the only way forward, and that together we learn, support, and live hand in hand,

May 5, 2024    27 Nisan 5784
City of New York

Please see video below to watch the Joseph Prize presentation ceremony from Sunday, May 5th, 2024.
The ceremony begins 22 minutes into the recording and ends at 30 minutes.

The 2024 Roger E. Joseph Prize was be presented to Hand in Hand, Accepted by Lee Gordon, Co-Founder and Director of the American Friends of Hand in Hand, at the Ordination Ceremonies of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 10AM, Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York at Fifth Avenue at 65th Street, New York City.

Hand in Hand’s Three Part Model

Education: Equality, empathy, responsibility and respect are the pillars of a Hand in Hand education. Arab and Jewish children study together in both Arabic and Hebrew, learning one another’s language, history and heritage. Jewish-Arab co-teaching teams employ innovative pedagogies to lead students’ explorations of their own identity while fostering respect for the other.

Communities: Hand in Hand families are diverse yet united in their support for a just society and shared education. Community programming engages thousands of Jewish and Arab families in holiday celebrations, dialogue, language classes and more, building a proud shared society countrywide.

Public Partnerships: Hand in Hand operates with local municipalities, the national Ministry of Education, external public preschool networks, educators and local officials, expanding their impact while aspiring to operate a Hand in Hand institution in every mixed Jewish-Arab city or district in Israel. 

Leadership of Hand in Hand

Dani Elazar, joined Hand in Hand as CEO on January 1, 2018. He had been working in the Hartman Institute since 2008, and his last position was Vice President of Israel Programs. Before then, Dani served as the Director of Yachad-Modi’in, an organization that advances shared education and communal living for families from a range of different Jewish lifestyles. This NGO established a pluralistic and inclusive educational and community framework. Prior to his career in social organizations, Dani was the treasurer and finance director of Alvarion Technologies. He holds a B.A. in economics and management from Bar Ilan University, and is a graduate of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership and the Maoz Leadership Program. Dani lives with his family in Modi’in, in central Israel.

Lee Gordon, co-founder of Hand in Hand with Arab co-founder Amin Khalaf and Director of the American Friends of Hand in Hand. Originally from the United States, Lee lived in Israel for two decades, actively involved in Jewish-Arab dialogue. He earned an M.A. in social work from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and graduated from the Mandel Institute’s prestigious School for Educational Leadership. Lee is a veteran social activist and community organizer, having worked and volunteered for numerous educational and community organizations. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and three children, where he builds a network of international support for Hand in Hand.