World ORT is making a better Israel and a better world, Israeli Ambassador Mark Regev told lay leaders and donors at the organisation’s offices in London.

In a wide-ranging, largely positive address to the lunchtime gathering of some of World ORT’s and ORT UK’s biggest supporters, Ambassador Regev paid tribute to the impact of their organisation.

“ORT does such wonderful work,” he said.

“A lot of people talk, ORT does. It’s active across the planet, it’s active in Israel and it’s giving young people tools to move ahead. And a lot of the young people it’s giving tools to would, without ORT, have trouble moving ahead. So you’re positively impacting the lives of real people and in doing so you’re making a better Israel and a better world.”

World ORT Director General and CEO Shmuel Sisso (above, right) in return praised the ambassador, who is an internationally familiar face of Israel.

“He advocates for Israel with calmness and wisdom, often in difficult circumstances,” Mr Sisso said.

World ORT has been active in the Land of Israel since the end of World War II when it helped Holocaust Survivors acquire skills to help them rebuild their lives in the nascent state.

Over the past 10 years, its operational arm in Israel, World ORT Kadima Mada, has become a multi-million-dollar force for the advancement of educational excellence in the country’s disadvantaged northern and southern regions.

It has been working closely with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry for the Development of the Negev and Galilee in building a network of six schools and educational services for hospitalised and other sick children, helping dozens more affiliated schools, spearheading the introduction of the latest educational technology, developing teacher training programmes, and developing programmes which encourage children’s learning of scientific and technological subjects.