Zewail in Israel

"I am not trying to support Israel, but their mind-set, if you will, is oriented to the principle that without science and technology, they will not gain superiority -- in the region, or in the world." I asked him if he had particular links with Israeli research institutions, or had participated in research with scientists there. "I have undertaken no research with Israelis," he said emphatically. "I visited Israel only once. When I went there, it was not for politics, but as a scientist who had received an international award, the Wolf Prize, given inside Israel by the Wolf Foundation, based on the request of the founder, Professor Ricardo Wolf, who was Jewish. You must realise, too, that when I went, it was not to an 'enemy' country, but to one with which Egypt has concluded a peace treaty. When I went, I was received by the Egyptian ambassador as the first Muslim and Arab to obtain this award."" (thanks Khalid)