Israeli pride: Eleanor Agam Ben David, former cultural attaché of Israel in France, will receive the title of Knight of the Order of Arts from the French government.
The title will be awarded to the lake on the background of its contribution to bridging cultures, and in a celebratory ceremony to be held next week at Paris City Hall, it will be awarded a fancy medal.
In doing so, she will join leading creators who have won the title in the past, including David Grossman, Amos Oz, Ohad Naharin, and Ari Pullman alongside international figures such as Sharon Stone and Lenny Kravitz.
Agam grew up in Belgium and immigrated to Israel at the age of 18. She is a theater creator and director and has a master's degree in the management of cultural institutions.
As Israel's cultural affiliate in France, she founded an organization that specializes in planning cultural vacations in France, through which many tourists were given a unique glimpse of the City of Lights and its wonderful cultural world.
Today she lives in France with her creator and screenwriter husband Eli Ben David (Choco from Laila's doll) and their three children.
Amos Oz, photo: Dodo Greenspan
"It suddenly arrived in the mail and I was very excited because I did not expect it. I received a certificate with an official letter from the Minister of Culture according to which it was decided that I would become a Knight of the Order of Arts. I was very excited because the French-Israeli connection is not obvious and it has always proven itself when it comes to culture," she shares.
A relationship that you worked to preserve and maintain in your role.
"True. When I arrived in Paris, I was afraid of how they would react to someone who represents Israeli culture in an official capacity and I was amazed to find out very quickly how interested the French are in deepening ties with us - without fear of boycotts and other political matters."
Batsheva band.
"When they came to perform, there were protesters outside the hall", photo: Ilya Melnikov
What is the most important thing you were able to do within the role?
"The real success is actually in the small things, for example when people who live in remote places in France meet Israeli creators and suddenly change their opinion about our country. Until that moment, all they knew about Israel was what they saw about us on TV, and suddenly we saw a change in attitude. This is the most important business card Beautiful of Israel".
I suppose there were also more difficult moments. Did you deal with boycotts and demonstrations?
"There were very few and the proportions always speak for themselves. For example, when the Bat Sheva band comes there is a trend of a few people coming with signs, but numerically it means that 30 people demonstrate outside against 3,000 who are in the hall."
Finally, what do you wear to the ceremony where you are knighted?
"My horse is waiting for me, of course, and I asked for a son," she laughs, "but the truth is that I bought nice shoes."
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