As part of a delegation from Israel's Ministry of Heritage to New York, led by Ministry CEO Mr. Itay Granek, Israeli teams from the Ministry of Heritage, Yad Ben-Zvi, and the Government Tourism Corporation met today with the management of the 9/11 Museum in New York for mutual learning and establishing working relationships. The meeting was opened by Architect Shira Shapira, Deputy CEO of Tekuma Division at the Ministry of Heritage, who presented the project and screened a video showing her son, Israeli hero Staff Sergeant Aner Shapira, throwing back grenades that had been thrown by terrorists into a security shelter near the Re'im parking lot where civilians had taken shelter during the October 7 massacre. During this special occasion, Dr. Nirit Kalifa, Director of the Department of Visual History, Curation and Documentation at Yad Ben-Zvi, presented two special drawings by artist Yochanan Drucker, a resident of Kibbutz Be'eri, to Executive Vice President and Museum Director, Clifford Chanin. Yochanan worked in the days following the terror attack drawing the kibbutz with pencil and A4 paper, which were available to him at that time. Yochanan passed away about a month ago and was buried in the Be'eri cemetery. "The collaboration between the Ministry of Heritage and the professionals at the 9/11 Museum is vital to our documentation and commemoration mission," said Ministry of Heritage CEO, Itay Granek. "The connection established today with professionals who possess unique knowledge in the field of commemoration allows us to develop advanced working concepts for commemorating the events of October 7th and creating meaningful heritage spaces." Elad Ehrenfeld, CEO of the Government Tourism Corporation, added: "Learning from global experience in heritage tourism is critical for us. The 9/11 Museum in New York has become a magnet attracting millions of visitors annually, while maintaining respect for the victims and their families. We aspire to implement similar approaches in Israel to commemorate the tragic events in a way that tells the human story and attracts visitors from Israel and around the world."
