The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Fund
Established by the late Zvi Meitar in 2004, the Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Fund sponsors a wide range of bodies and activities pertaining to education and culture in Israel and overseas.
Zvi Meitar (1933-2015) was an Israeli lawyer who established a law firm which became, and is now, the leading law firm in Israel known as Meitar Liquornik, Geva Leshem Tal. Mr. Meitar was the chairman of the Tel Aviv Bar Association and a member of the State Committee appointing of all Judges and Justices in Israel. In the 70’s he became a partner in an Israeli telecommunications conglomerate, which international business had substantial interests worldwide and which is to this day a world leader billing software.
The Zvi Meitar Institute for Legal Implications of Emerging Technologies at Reichman University is an important chain of projects with Legal aspects supported by the Fund. The innovative Institute, directed by Dov Greenbaum JD PhD, aims to look at the ethical social and legal implications of new and emerging technologies. While these technologies broadly include both hi-tech and biotech innovations, the Institute is principally focused on issues related to disruptive technologies.
Other Israeli Causes and Projects of the Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Fund
The Zvi Meitar Center for Advanced Law Studies at the Tel Aviv University Law Faculty was inaugurated in 2007 in order to fight the brain drain of young scholars from Israel and to promote law research and prepare its graduates for leadership positions in the Israeli juridical system, in government, social and economic organizations and in the practice of law.
The Institute for Law and Philanthropy (ILP) was established at Tel Aviv University Law School in 2014. With the overriding mission of the Institute to help integrate philanthropy into Israel’s socio-economic policy and thus support the country’s philanthropic sector in its quest to foster a more prosperous and equitable society
The Meitar Photography Award in cooperation with the International Photography Festival.
The Award is given to an Israeli artist whose works have not yet been shown in a solo exhibition in a museum and will be chosen by a team of professional judges. A portion of the award is used for the production of an exhibition in the framework of the International Photography Festival
The Meitar Opera Studio at the Israeli Opera is a practical study and performance program for young Israeli opera singers who graduated from any given music academy and who are on the verge of embarking on an operatic career. Its major goal is to nurture operatic talent in Israel and to help young opera singers to work in their profession.
Nagar School of the Arts, Musrara, Jerusalem
Musrara is a high institution of arts that trains its students in artistic, creative and professional photography, the digital media, multi-media, video and new-age music. The school was founded in 1986 in the heart of the Musrara quarter in Jerusalem, a multi-colored neighborhood providing a warm and dynamic atmosphere for the social involvement of the students and the promotion of reciprocal ties to their surroundings.
Agnon House
The home of the greatest of the Hebrew writers in modern times, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, where he lived with his family for many years and wrote his famous literary works. The Fund financed the preservation of the thousands of books contained in the Agnon library, as well as an advanced Internet website to provide potential visitors from Israel and overseas with a more comprehensive impression of Beit Agnon.
UK Causes and Projects of the Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Fund
The Royal Albert Hall
Zvi Meitar was a Fellow of the Royal Albert Hall in recognition of exemplary support at that stage of its restoration. The lobby of the Royal Albert Hall's new south entrance bears the name the Meitar Foyer. On the outside of the outer wall a plaque bears the Zvi and Ofra Meitar coat of arms which includes a brief text, in Hebrew, from Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament of Bible. The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Porch and Foyer opened in 2013 and was named, in recognition of the Family Fund’s further support.
National Maritime Museum
Zvi Meitar was appointed Honorary Commodore of the National Maritime Museum in recognition of his outstanding commitment to the institution; especially in relation to Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson’s 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The exhibition ‘Nelson and Napoleon’ in 2005 to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar.
Magdalen College, Oxford
Zvi Meitar was appointed Patron of the Magdalen College Boat Club for maintaining the Boat Club for five years. The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Fund created the Zvi and Ofra Meitar Magdalen Graduate Scholarships awarded annually to five PhD graduates studying in the sciences.
In recognition of this special relationship and donations, Zvi Meitar was made an Honorary Waynflete Fellow which, under a parliamentary statute, may be held by only eighteen persons at any one time.
Oxford University
Zvi Meitar was elected to the Chancellor’s Court of for his continuous support of the University of Oxford.
Ashmolean Museum
The Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Fund made a donation to the Ashmolean Museum and the four-story central atrium of the museum where the old and new sections of the museum meet was named Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Atrium; Also, in recognition of extensive support, Zvi Meitar was presented with an Ashmolean Fellowship, the highest honour the Museum can bestow.
Bodleian Libraries
The Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford announced important improvements to SOLO (Search Oxford Libraries On-line) made possible by a donation from Zvi Meitar. The catalogue is the lifeblood of the library connecting readers worldwide with 11 million physical items in the Bodleian collections and an infinite number of electronic resources thus making it much quicker for academics to reach the materials they seek and also encouraging them to explore other recommended materials.
New Bodleian Library Gift Shop
The Fund made a donation to the Bodleian Library for the installation of the new Bodleian Shop in the new refurbished Bodleian Library which is named the Zvi Meitar Bodleian Libraries Shop.
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
Established in 1998, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra occupies a unique position within the UK's orchestral landscape. Formerly known as Oxford Philomusica and hailed as ‘thoroughly impressive’ by BBC Music Magazine, its reputation is based on the uncompromising artistic standards of its founder and Music Director Marios Papadopoulos and maintained by some of the finest musicians in the UK. As an orchestra of the highest quality, the Oxford Philharmonic attracts some of the world’s greatest artists to appear in its series at Sir Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre.