The Team
Micky Tommer
Executive Director
Micky has been a member of Hagar's educational community since 2017. His two children grew up and were educated at Hagar. He is proud to belong to an organization that is leading the way for a shared society in the Negev. Micky holds an MA in communications and politics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has served as a consultant in communications and public relations for a variety of public and private associations.
Sheikha Helawy
Pedagogical Consultant
Sheikha is an advisor at the Ministry of Education's Avnei Rosha Institute for Educational Leadership, specializing in training and leadership development for school teachers and principals. She is also an accomplished language author and poet in both Arabic and Hebrew. Her works have been published internationally in multiple languages.
Daria Feller
Preschool and Informal Education Director
Daria is in charge of Hagar's preschool and informal educational programming. She received her BA in the humanities and social sciences from the Open University. She also holds a teaching certificate in civics. Daria has extensive managerial experience with preschool frameworks. She immigrated to Israel from the Ukraine when she was eight years old, and grew up in Beer Sheva. Daria is mother to Amit (age 10) and Liri (age 3).
Fareed Mahameed
Director of the Thakafat project - the center for shared culture
Fareed is an educator, innovator, social entrepreneur, and manager of cross-border projects for shared society. He is a public health and environmental protection expert.
Fareed has an MA in Environmental Public Health and Industrial Hygiene, from Haifa University, and has studied at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. He also worked with Imams in Bedouin communities to incorporate UNDGS in Islamic ceremonies and teaching and served as project manager for a multinational survey of water quality in the West Bank.
Haifa Sagaira
Troop Leader
Haifa is the Troop leader of Scout Troop Adam, Hagar's bilingual Scout Troop. Haifa is also a science teacher at the Hagar School. She is a recipient of the prestigious Yossi Baidatz prize for environmental education. Haifa is a respected Bedouin feminist activist in the Negev
Hen Gal Atia
Office & Finance Manager
Hen holds a BA in logistics management systems from Sapir Academic College. She was formerly an operations director for Bezeq Online – a major communications firm – and for EretzIr, a leading non-profit in southern Israel. Born and raised in Beer Sheva, Chen currently lives in Meitar with her husband, Naor, and their three children.
The Board
Ido Horowitz
Co-Chair of the board
Father to Peleg, Lotem, and Nevo, partner to Keren. Ido is a founder of EretzIr, a major community-building organization in the Negev, and is a member of the Kama community in Beer Sheva. He holds an MBA, and a B.Sc. in life sciences and is a real estate appraiser. Over the past decade, he has been a parent and community member at the Hagar School.
Suha Ibrahim
Member of the Committee
Suha holds a BA in Hebrew Language and Literature and an MA in educational management. She currently serves as a consultant at Mifras – A Space for Educational Innovation. In her previous capacity, she directed educational programs in southern Israel for the Rashi Foundation. Suha was Hagar’s first director of pedagogy. Her two children have been educated at the Hagar School.
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Ali Abu Ajaj
Member of the Committee
Ali is in charge of STEM educational initiatives in the Eastern and Western Negev municipal clusters. For six years he managed the Kseifa community center. Ali holds a BA in behavioral sciences and an MA in business management. His wife, Lama, is a psychologist specializing in children and youth. Their three children all study at the Hagar School.
Oded Ovadiah
Member of the Committee
Oded holds a BA in Life Sciences and an MA in Zoology. He is an ornithologist and an expert in flight safety. A Lt. Colonel (res.) in the IDF, Oded served in the Israeli Air Force for 20 years. He now runs workshops in navigation and nature hiking for families, schools, and small enterprises. Two of Oded’s children graduated from the Hagar School, and he has been a volunteer leader at Hagar for many years.
Ghadir Hani
Member of the Committee
Ghadir is one of Israel’s best-known activists, leading public struggles in the fields of shared society, women’s rights, peace, and interfaith understanding. She is the winner of the 2018 Sami Michael Prize for reducing social gaps in Israeli society.
Dr. Abed Azab
Member of the Committee
Abed, father to Muhammad and Lena (Hagar’s school alumni). Their love story with Hagar began when their children were one year old. Once they discovered Hagar's bilingual education system, they didn’t have any doubts anymore about which school to send their children to.
Yair Rothman
Member of the Committee
Father to Umma and Oded who grew up at the Hagar School. Rothman is an industrial and managerial engineer at Nirlat Industries, a manufacturer of paints and industrial coatings. He is the founder of Negev Vibes, an initiative that organizes cultural and artistic events. He is an active participant in the Thaqafat Initiative – Hagar's Center for Shared Culture. Rothman strongly believes in the future of shared society – in the Negev and throughout Israel.
Danit Gidon
Member of the Committee
Danit Gidon is the mother to Michal, Itamar (who studied in Hagar's first graduating class), Yarden (from Hagar's fifth graduating class), and Yael, now a fifth-grade student at the Hagar school. She holds a BA in education and an MA in conflict resolution and management. Danit is a senior program manager at the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel.
Founders of Hagar Association
Yifaat Hillel
Dr. Akiva Leibowitz
Adv. Anwar Al-Hjooj
Prof. Neve Gordon
Yosef Al-Ataowna
Marwan Aamer
Adv. Afnan Abu Taha