2022 EMET Prize winners announced ‘Israel’s Nobel Prize’ to be awarded to six people split into three categories: social sciences, life sciences, and the humanities.
PHOTO - THE EMET PRIZE was envisioned as being the Israeli equivalent of the Nobel and, in fact, most Israeli Nobel winners first received the EMET.
PHOTO – THE EMET PRIZE was envisioned as being the Israeli equivalent of the Nobel and, in fact, most Israeli Nobel winners first received the EMET.

The EMET Prize, often referred to as “Israel’s Nobel Prize,” awarded for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have had far-reaching influence and have made a significant contribution to Israeli society, announced its 2022 winners in three categories: social sciences, life sciences, and the humanities.

In the social sciences, the winners are Prof. Ruth Lapidoth and Prof. Amnon Rubinstein, for their academic work and contributions to society in the field of law. Rubinstein is considered the founding father of Israeli constitutional law and has served in several ministerial positions in the Knesset. Lapidot is regarded as the founder of international-public law in the State of Israel.

EMET Prize winners from the Hebrew University community: Ruth Lapidoth from the Faculty of Law and the Department of International Relations; Hermona (Mona) Soreq from the Faculty of Science, the Silberman Institute for Life Sciences, and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences; and Gideon (Gidi) Shelach Lavi from the Faculty of Humanities, Department of Asian Studies. Three of the six awardees this year are from the Hebrew University community.
EMET Prize winners from the Hebrew University community: Ruth Lapidoth from the Faculty of Law and the Department of International Relations; Hermona (Mona) Soreq from the Faculty of Science, the Silberman Institute for Life Sciences, and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences; and Gideon (Gidi) Shelach Lavi from the Faculty of Humanities, Department of Asian Studies. Three of the six awardees this year are from the Hebrew University community.

The winners in the life science category are Prof. Hermona Soreq, who teaches molecular neuroscience at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for her accomplishments in brain research; and Prof. Rafael Malach, who teaches brain research in the Department of Neurobiology at Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, for his achievements in neuroscience.

Soreq is renowned for her discoveries about the molecular pathways that regulate acetylcholine, one of the most important neurotransmitters in the brain. Malach is being honored for his achievements in human neuroscience that changed the understanding of the relationship between the structure of the human brain and neuronal dynamics and cognition.

The EMET Prize recipients in the humanities are Prof. Oded Lipshitz from Tel Aviv University and Prof. Gideon Shelach-Lavi from Hebrew University for their accomplishments in the field of archaeology.

The 2022 EMET Prize winners.
The 2022 EMET Prize winners.

Lipshitz is an international authority on the history and archaeology of the Land of Israel during the first millennium BCE. Shelach-Lavi has conducted extensive archaeological research in North China and Mongolia and has expanded the horizons of Israeli archaeology to areas and cultures that were not previously part of Israeli academic research.

The EMET Prize, sponsored by the AMN Foundation for the Advancement of Science, Art and Culture in Israel, is awarded annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements. The AMN Foundation was founded in 1999 by Alberto Moscona Nisim, a Mexican friend of Israel.

The EMET Prize coin