Despite the small size of the population of the State of Israel, it has contributed a lot to science, economy, art and culture in the world.
A (partial) list of Israelis who have won prestigious international awards.
Israeli Nobel Prize winners
The Nobel Prize is a prize awarded each year for outstanding research, an original invention of equipment or technology, or an outstanding contribution to society. The prizes are awarded from the interests of the Nobel Foundation, which was established under the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist and the inventor of dynamite. The award includes a gold medal and a cash grant of nearly one million dollars.
• Shi Agnon (Literature, 1966) • Menachem Begin (Shalom, 1978) • Yitzhak Rabin (Shalom, 1994)
• Shimon Peres (Shalom, 1994) • Daniel Kahneman (Economics, 2002) • Avraham Hershko (Chemistry, 2004)
• Aharon Chachanover (Chemistry, 2004) • Israel Oman (Economics, 2005) • Ada Yonat (Chemistry, 2009)
• Dan Shechtman (Chemistry, 2011) • Aryeh Warshel (Chemistry, 2013) • Michael Levit (Chemistry, 2013)
• Joshua Angrist (Economics, 2021)
Wolf Prize
A prize awarded in Israel to renowned scientists and artists from all over the world for their achievements “for the advancement of science and art for the benefit of humanity”
Yosef Amri (Physics) / Dan Shechtman (Physics) / Yakir Aharonov (Physics) / Ilan Hat (Agriculture) / Alexander Fines (Chemistry) / Shahran Shelah (Mathematics) / Alexander Levitsky (Medicine) / Ruth Arnon (Medicine) / Daniel Barenboim (Art) / Avraham Hershko (Medicine) / Leo Sachs (Medicine) / Yosef Tal (Art) / Ada Yonet (Chemistry) / Yehoshua Yortner (Chemistry) / Raphael Levin (Chemistry) / Haim Sider (Medicine) / Aharon Razin (Medicine) )/ Michael Sela (Medicine)/ Hillel Furstenberg (Mathematics)/ Ilya Piatzky-Shapiro (Mathematics)/ Meir Wilchek (Medicine)/ Yaakov Beckenstein (Physics)/ Nachum Sonnenberg (Medicine) / Moshe Safdia (Architecture) / David Silberman (An’) (Agriculture) / Rafi Bistritzer (Physics) / Meir Lahav (Chemistry) / Leslie Lizarowitz (Chemistry) / Noga Alon (Mathematics) / Adi Shamir (Mathematics)
Fields MedalFields Medal:
One of the two most prestigious international prizes in mathematics. The prize is awarded once every four years to up to four mathematicians under the age of forty, who have achieved extraordinary achievements. The mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize, which is not awarded in this field.
The Israeli who won it is – Elon Lindenstrauss
Perez Abel
A prize awarded annually by the King of Norway since 2003, to mathematicians from all over the world with notable and exceptional achievements. The award is considered the most prestigious of the international awards given to mathematicians (next to the Fields Medal, which is awarded only to young people) and is considered equivalent to the Nobel Prize (which does not include a mathematics category).
• Hillel Furstenberg
• Avi Wigderzon
Euler Medal
The Euler Medal has been awarded to mathematicians, since 1993, by the Institute for Combinatorics and its Applications (ICA) in Florida, and is awarded to a researcher who has made a significant contribution to the field of combinatorics, and who is still active in research. The medal is awarded annually to one or two researchers in the world.
• Doron Zeilberger
• Aviezri Frankel
Turing Award
International award in the field of computer science. Given by the ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, for an extraordinary achievement in the field of computer science. In this field, the prize is comparable in terms of its prestige to the Nobel Prize, which is not awarded in the fields of mathematics and computer science. As of 2014, the amount of the prize is one million dollars, funded by Google.
In the distribution of prize winners by country – Israel is in third place, after the USA and Great Britain:
• Michael Rabin (automats)
• Amir Panoli (temporal logic)
• Adi Shamir (encryption, RSA)
• Yehuda Pearl (artificial intelligence)
• Shefi Goldwasser (cryptography and complexity theories)
• Avi Wigderzon
Peres grew up
Award given for an outstanding article in the field of computer science. awarded by the European Association for the Theory of Computer Science (EATCS)] and ACM. The award is the second most important in the field of computer science, after the Turing Award.
Among the 82 winners of the award until 2023, 21 are Israelis:
• Shafi Goldwasser (twice) • Shlomo Moran • Yoram Mozes
• Shmuel Safra • Noga Alon • Nir Shavit
• Avi Wigdarzon • Yossi Matias • Uriel Feige • Moshe Verdi
• Omer Rheingold • Yoav Freund • Noam Nissan
• Amir Ronan (Gr.) • Dan Bona • Moni Naor • Kobi Nissim (An’)
• Oded Regev • Irit Dinor
Danny Heinemann Prize for Mathematical Physics
Prize awarded jointly by the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics.
• Michael Eisenman
• Nathan Zeiberg
The National Science Medal
An honor awarded once a year by the President of the United States in a ceremony held at the White House, to people who have made a significant contribution in the following subjects: sociology and behavioral sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, statistics, computer science and physics. 38% of the recipients of the medal for their generations were Jews
• Dear Aharonov
• Rival tilapia
The IEEE Medal
The highest award given by the Society of Engineers
Electricity and electronics. The prize is awarded annually, starting in 1917, to a person, for an extraordinary contribution
or a highly accomplished career in the areas of electrical engineering interest.
• Yaakov Ziv
Rousseau Prize for Statistics
Awarded for innovations in statistical research that have an impact on society and includes a monetary prize of one million dollars, similar to the Nobel Prize in other fields.
• Yoav Binyamin
• Daniel Yekothiali
• Ruth Heller
Holberg Prize
Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt (Sociology)
Nemars Prize for Economics
Award given by Northwestern University, with the intention of creating an award comparable in prestige to the Nobel Prize
• Israel is a craftsman
• Ariel Rubinstein
• Elhanan Halfman
Stockholm Prize for Criminology
David Weisbord
Olympic medals
Gold medal
• Gal Friedman – Mistral windsurfing – Athens Olympics (2004)
• Artyom Dolgupyat – Floor apparatus gymnastics – Tokyo Olympics (2020)
• Linoi Ashram – artistic gymnastics in multi-individual competition – Tokyo Olympics (2020)
• Tom Reuveni – sailing in the IQFOiL model – Paris Olympics (2024)
Silver medal
• Yael Arad – Judo – Barcelona Olympics (1992)
• Inbar Lanir – Judo – Paris Olympics (2024)
• Raz Hershko – Judo – Paris Olympics (2024)
• Sharon Kantor (surfer) – sailing in the IQFOiL model – Paris Olympics (2024)
• Artyom Dolgopiat – Floor apparatus gymnastics – Paris Olympics (2024)
• Israel’s artistic gymnastics team – Paris Olympics (2024)
Bronze medal
• Oren Samadja – Judo – Barcelona Olympics (1992) • Gal Friedman – Sailing – Atlanta Olympics (1996)
• Michael Kolganov – Kayak Rowing – Sydney Olympics (2000) • Eric Zeevi – Judo – Athens Olympics (2004)
• Shahar Zubri – Sailing – Beijing Olympics (2008) • Jordan Jarbi – Judo – Rio de Janeiro Olympics (2016)
• Uri Sasson – Judo – Rio de Janeiro Olympics (2016) • Avishag Samberg – Taekwondo – Tokyo Olympics (2020)
• Israel’s judo team – Tokyo Olympics (2020) • Peter Palchik – Judo – Paris Olympics (2024)
Grand Slam in tennis
• Andy Ram and Yoni Ehrlich – Australian Open Doubles Championship (2008)
• Andy Ram – 2006 Wimbledon Championship in mixed doubles together with Vera Zavonarva
• Andy Rehm – French Open Championship 2007 in mixed doubles together with Natalie Dashie
literature
Heinrich Heine Prize
Amos Oz – (2008)
David Grossman – (2024)
Grammy Award
Yitzhak Perlman 1977 – ceremony number 20/ 1978 2 awards – ceremony number 21/ 1980 4 awards – ceremony number 23/ 1981 2 awards – ceremony number 24/ 1982 – ceremony number 25/ 1987 2 awards – ceremony number 30/ 1990 2 awards – Ceremony number 33/ 1995 – Ceremony number 38.
In 2008 Yitzhak Perlman received the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement, this is his 16th award
Daniel Barenboim – 6 awards.
Pinchas Zuckerman – 1980 together with Yitzhak Perlman – ceremony number 23
1981 together with Isaac Stern – ceremony number 24
Yafim Bronfman – 1997
Gil Shaham – 1999 together with Andre Parvin – ceremony number 42
Maxim Vangrove – 2003 – Ceremony number 45
Miri Ben-Ari – shares the award with Kanye West and Che Smith as the writers of the best rap song of 2004 – ceremony number 46, Jesus Walks performed by Kanye West in 2005 – ceremony number 47
Yevgeny Kissin – 2006 – ceremony number 48
Ron Teller 2008, 5 awards, including a double award – ceremony number 50
2009 3 awards – ceremony number 51
Hila Flitman – 2009 – ceremony number 51
Eurovision
• Yizhar Cohen and Alpha Beta – “Avnivi” (Eurovision 1978)
• Atari waves and milk and honey – “Hallelujah” (Eurovision 1979)
• Dana International – “Diva” (Eurovision 1998)
• Neta Barzilai – “Toy” (Eurovision 2018)
Oscar Award
• Moshe Mizrahi – for the best foreign film “All Life Ahead” (France, 1977)
• Natalie Portman – for the best leading actress “Black Swan” (United States, 2011)
• Niv Adiri (English) – for the best sound mix “Gravity” (United States, 2013)
Ofer Alon – winner of the Academy Award for scientific and technological achievements for the development of the ZBrush software (United States, 2014)
• Guy Nativ – for the best short film “Skin” (United States, 2019)
• Meir Feder, Zvi Reznik, Guy Dorman and Ron Yogev – winners of the Academy Award for Scientific and Technological Achievements for the wireless video transmission technology, which is implemented in the chips of the Amimon company. (United States, 2021)[7]
Golden Globe Award
• “Saleh Shabti” – the Samuel Goldwyn International Prize (Israel, 1965)
• Haim Topol – Discovery of the Year for his performance in the movie “Salah Shabbati” (Israel, 1965)
• Haim Topol – Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his performance in “Fiddler on the Roof” (United States, 1972)
• “The Policeman Azulai” – the best foreign film (Israel, 1972)
• “Waltz with Bashir” – the best foreign film (Israel, 2009)
• Natalie Portman – for the best supporting actress in the film “Closer” (United States, 2004); For the best actress in the drama film “Black Swan” (United States, 2011)
Awards at the Cannes Film Festival
Oded Kotler – Best Actor Award for “Three Days and a Boy” (Israel, 1967)
• Hanna Leslaw – Best Actress Award for “Free Zone” (Israel, 2005)
• Etgar Kerat and Shira Gefen – Golden Camera Award for debut film about “Jellyfish” (Israel, 2007)
• Yosef Sider – Screenplay Award for “Footnote” (Israel, 2011)
• Manny Yaish – Directors and Screenwriters Union Award for “The Watchers” (Israel, 2012)
Emmy Award for Primetime Entertainment
• Tzipi Brand – producer and director of the film “Google Baby” (United States, 2010)[8]
• Avi Nir – executive producer of the television series “Homeland” (United States, 2012)
International Emmy Award
• Adir Miller – creator, screenwriter and actor of the TV series “Traffic Light” (United States, 2010)
• Yossi Vasa – producer, director and actor of the television series “Nabso” (United States 2018)[9]
Emmy Award for Technology
• Sound Radix company – automatic synchronization and correction of phase differences between a boom microphone and a lapel microphone[10]
• Beamr company – development of a perceptual quality index for the purpose of improving video compression[11]
Waves Company (WAVES Audio)[12] – Shai Fishman, Yaniv Alon and Meir Shashua – for the plugin – Clarity Vx Pro[13]
Pulitzer Prize
Shulamit Ran
• Shaul Friedlander
• Oded Balilti
• Ronen Bergman
Hosting international events in Israel
• The 1964 Chess Olympiad
• Tel Aviv Paralympic Games (1968)
• Eurovision 1979
• Eurovision 1999
• Giro d’Italia 2018
• Eurovision 2019
• Miss World 2021
