Friends, today I would like to tell you about one more person, who has linked Ukraine and Israel forever: on May, 16 the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ephraim Katzir, the 4th President of Israel, a native of Kyiv, was marked.

Ephraim Katzir - Efraim Katchalski, a prominent biophysicist, Ph.D., the winner of the Israel Prize in life sciences, one of the founders of the Weizmann Institute, a member of the Royal Society of London, the winner of the Japan Prize, the head of the scientific service of the IDF, the promoter and organizer of the departments of Jewish history and theology at the universities of the world.

Efraim Katchalski was born in 1916 in Kiev, in 1925 the family moved to Palestine. Efraim’s grandfather was a rabbi, so the family honored and knew the Jewish traditions well. Five years after the arrival of the Bolsheviks in Kiev, the Katchalski family moved to Palestine, Efraim was only nine at that time. After moving, Efraim finished school, in 1932 he became a student of the University of Jerusalem, and in 1941 he received a doctorate in biophysics.

Generally Katchalski was not going to be involved in politics: he was successful in scientific field, his work on the study of proteins and amino acids were recognized worldwide, his innovative methods got broad application. In 1950, he was awarded the Weizmann Prize, nine years later he was awarded the Prize of Israel, two years later he got the Rothschild Prize. After that Katchalski became a member of the National Academy of Sciences of Israel, and one of the first Israelis, who was invited to the American Academy of Sciences.

In 1973, Katchalski was invited to run for president of Israel by another famous native of Kyiv - Golda Meir herself, who was the prime minister at that time. To elect scientists for the presidency is the tradition of Israel. According to Israelis, the president must be a person who is, above all, a moral authority for society. Efraim Katchalski was such an authority. Under the law Katchalski changed his surname to Katzir, which means "harvest". On 24 May 1973 he assumed the presidency.

During the period of his presidency, he experienced the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the historic visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat - the first official visit of the head of the Arab countries to Israel. Katzir’s popularity was undeniable: he could easily run for another term. However, Dr. Katzir refused and chose to continue his scientific work.

After the presidential cadence Ephraim Katzir was able to visit his first native land in Kyiv, where he participated in an international conference. Our countryman died at the advanced age in 2009 at his home in Rehovot. By the way, in his memoirs, written a year before his death, he wrote about Kyiv.

Our history has been rewritten for so long that we have forgotten who we are and where we are from, who our true friends are and who they are not. Today any of you can make your own conclusions based on facts, not myths.