Bahraini Ambassador Visits BIU

Bar-Ilan University welcomed Bahraini ambassador to Israel Khaled Yousif al-Jalahmah, who visited the university's Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials and Kofkin Faculty of Engineering. The ambassador toured several laboratories and met with university administration, and researchers from a variety of disciplines.

"The scientific agreement signed with Israel on Monday is just the beginning," said the ambassador, whose visit is one of the fruits of the Abraham Accords. "A group of Israeli entrepreneurs recently visited Bahrain and we witnessed wonderful chemistry between them and our Bahraini colleagues. We are looking forward to expanding our cooperation in many different fields," he added.  

While touring the Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, BIU President Prof. Arie Zaban discussed his background as an entrepreneur and the significance of developing startups based on scientific technologies developed in academic institutions. 

Prof. Lior Elbaz, head of the Israel Fuel Cells Consortium operating within the Department of Chemistry at Bar-Ilan, showed the ambassador a new hydrogen-based technology that powers drones. Prof. Elbaz discussed a new green-tech startup, Refhuel, which has been developing reversible fuel cell technology.

A surprise meeting was arranged for the ambassador with physics student Liran Cohen. Many know Liran as someone who sells vegan food on campus, but not many are aware that her family immigrated from Bahrain, and only two months ago she even visited there for a wedding. Her mother’s aunt, Houda Nonoo, was Bahrain’s first female ambassador in Washington. Ambassador Khaled Yousif al-Jalahmah was surprised as Houda was his boss when he served as Bahrain’s deputy ambassador in Washington. The meeting ended with the student and ambassador taking mutual photos and promising to send mutual regards.

The ambassador with physics student Liran Cohen