Head of Cultural Diplomacy

Dear Friends,

I'm honored to great you, distinguished guests, artists and spectators alike, gathered from all over Israel and the world for the Jerusalem International Puppet Theater Festival. This annual event presents contemporary Puppet, Object and Image Theater and appeals to all ages.

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is proud of its long lasting partnership with the festival and for initiating and hosting, for the 12th year, an international delegation meant to expose festival directors and programmers to the rich creativity of the Israeli artistic scene.

We are also extremely happy to be partners of the France-Israel Culture Season, which is taking place simultaneously here in Israel as well as in France. This explains the unprecedented number of French productions included in the program this year. 

I would like take this opportunity to congratulate the Train Theater and the festival's team for their tremendous work, and to express my personal gratitude to the outgoing director of the Theater, Dalia Yaffe Maayan, for her vision and accomplishments. I would also like to mention my colleague, Ofra Ben-Yaacov, Director of Arts Department at the MFA, upon her retirement, and to thank her for opening the hearts of generations of Israeli diplomats, myself included, to the puppeteer world.

Ziv Nevo-Kulman

Head of Cultural Diplomacy

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs