Aussie meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Ryan Levin recently had the opportunity to sit down with the US Secretary of State in Jerusalem.
Masada College graduate and former Leibler Yavneh College shaliach Ryan Levin recently had the opportunity to sit down with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem.
Levin, who was born in South Africa and moved to Australia in 2002, now lives in Efrat with his wife and five children and works for the Netzach Educational Network.
Founded by Rabbi Menachem Bombach, Netzach aims to revamp Israel’s Charedi educational system by working to prepare ultra-Orthodox pupils for higher education institutes in Israel.
The online learning platform registered its 20,000th student this year, which Levin said is impressive because it shows that “the Charedi community is changing”.
“Many are increasingly desiring access to the opportunities of mainstream Israeli society, while still holding true to their religious values,” Levin told The AJN.
“One of the partnerships that we’re imminently about to enter into is the American Centre in Jerusalem, which is the public diplomacy division of the American embassy, and they support a range of non-profits whose activities and causes align with their core values.
“It was in the context of that, that the invitation to be part of the forum with Secretary of State Blinken was extended.”
Netzach was one of just five non-profit organisations invited to meet with Blinken at an Israeli-Palestinian music and arts centre called Feel Beit.
The other participants included Waseem Abu Salem, founder of an organisation that provides computer science training to Israeli-Arab children and teens, and Yaari Bar Tal of the Israeli Gay Youth movement (IGY).
Levin said it was “hugely exciting” to be involved.
“[It was] a tremendous opportunity to showcase our cause as vital to securing Israel’s economic and social vitality,” he said.
“Each of us was afforded an opportunity to present our causes, introduce our organisations and present the challenges to our work, as well as how America may be able to further support us in our respective impacts.
“Secretary Blinken really wanted an opportunity to communicate to Israel’s civic society, America’s unequivocal support for civil society in general.”
Levin said the overriding message from Blinken was that America stands side by side with Israel’s civil society, irrespective of the political atmosphere.
“Secretary Blinken is an incredibly genuine person and showed meaningful interest in both the individuals that were speaking, as well as the causes that they were presenting,” Levin said. “He deeply wanted to understand the nature of the challenges framing our work, and how America can be of further support.”
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