For the second successive year Yom Kippur coincided with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Adha is a joyous holiday commemorating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son as God commanded, in contrast to the solemnity of Yom Kippur. Once again, NIF supported efforts to reduce tensions arising from this clash of traditions.

Supported by NIF, the Abraham Fund ran an extensive campaign in the Israeli media, aimed at raising awareness of the different traditions in order to reduce potential hostilities. At the heart of this campaign was a specially produced video which was broadcasted on Israel’s leading television channels and distributed on social media. The video was created by collage artist Hanoch Piven, and narrated by Israeli-Jewish actor Alon Neuman and Israeli-Arab singer, actress, and songwriter Mira Awad. Piven said he hoped that the video would “increase at least one millimeter … tolerance between Jews and Arabs in Israel.”

NIF supported efforts to distribute posters about the two holidays in Hebrew and Arabic throughout Israel, with a focus on the mixed Jewish-Arab cities.