On March 8, 2008, International Women’s Day, Dr. Hanita Zimrin was honored by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as one of eight women who have made extraordinary contributions to Israeli Society. The eight women were honored as part of a year long Israel 60 celebration.

Message from ELI’s Founder, Dr. Hanita Zimrin

I am very proud to have been chosen from among so many worthy and accomplished Israeli women to receive this award. For me, this honor serves as a validation of thirty years of vision and hard work which have been marked by many successes, large and small. When I started ELI nearly thirty years ago I encountered complete denial as to the occurrence of child abuse in Israel. I’m very proud that today the issue of child abuse is in the national spotlight, and that almost no one denies its prevalence anymore, even in the Jewish world. Furthermore I’m extremely pleased that ELI and (Israel as a result) have been recognized as world leaders in child welfare and protection. I feel very fortunate to be have been a part of and in fact to lead this process, however, I didn’t do it alone. I did it with the devoted staff of ELI and with the help of generous friends of ELI in Israel, the United States, and Europe. For me this award is not a summary of a life, but rather a beginning to the next stage of materializing the ultimate dream of ending child abuse. To this end there are still many steps which I look forward to climbing together.

ELI Therapists Collaborate with National
T.V. Station and Police to arrest 11
On-line Sexual Predators
As part of an ongoing internet safety initiative, ELI worked closely with Israel’s channel 10 to create a television show based on the American “To Catch a Predator”. ELI therapists posing as adolescent girls entered chat rooms and responded to on-line sexual predators who wanted to arrange clandestine meetings. The meetings were scheduled to occur in an apartment which was rented by channel 10, and guarded by the police. Eleven men showed up to what they thought were secret meetings with adolescent girls and they were all promptly arrested. Seven of them were charged. ELI used this national television event as the launching pad for a nationwide awareness campaign among both parents and children. ELI hired a lobbyist to urge the Knesset to stiffen penalties for on-line predatory behavior, created a blog and youth task force where teenagers make internet safety presentations in schools and conducted educational activities with parents. ELI printed and distributed mouse pads with “rules for using the internet.” And ELI created a treaty between parents and children which was publicized in newspapers and other media. The treaty has several elements: