“Britain is working hard to build academic relationships with Israel. The ambitious UK-Israel collaborative programme in Regenerative Medicine (BIRAX) aims to fund £10M of research projects, fellowships and conferences over the next five years. In November 2011 we organized with Ben Gurion University a UK-Israel conference in Regenerative Medicine which attracted 260 delegates, 60 of whom came from 20 British universities.

We had a strong response to new initiative in the humanities with six British universities sending their Deans of Humanities to meet with counter-parts in March 2012. And in the same month, four British universities took part in the launch of a new collaborative network with four Arab-led colleges in the North of the country.

The visit of Southampton University in late May, other initiatives to launch joint-courses and the appetite for information about studying in the UK keep my team busy.

Our bilateral arts programme, BIARTS has been running for 15 years. Each year up to 50 small projects are supported with artists from a range of disciplines taking part in initiatives in both countries. This vibrant exchange is good for both our countries and demonstrates there is an appetite for cultural ties.

So let’s keep a measure of perspective. Yes there are some problems but these are dwarfed by the demand we are witnessing for UK-Israel collaboration.”

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