Efrat Dotan and Matanel Bitton are two of SHALVA's young adults with special needs. Efrat is 26 years old and has Down syndrome while Matanel Bitton is 19 years old and has developmental disabilities. For a year and a half, they toured Israel and interviewed well-known personalities. Asking original and sometimes challenging questions, both Matanel and Efrat prove that charisma and personal charm can effortlessly close the gaps that separate individuals with disabilitiies and individuals without disabilities.

Among the personalities that have faced the Bitton/Dotan microphone are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham, President Shimon Peres, Philanthropist Shari Arison and supermodel Bar Rafaeli. The Israel Press Association has presented them with press credentials and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Danny Ayalon, appointed them as Israel’s ‘Good Will Ambassadors’. The concept is a joint initiative of SHALVA and the popular Ynet news website. 

Efrat and Matanel hit the international scene on a recent trip to the AIPAC Conference in Washington DC.  These two young people were able to ask questions about the America-Israel relationship and make it one step closer to getting to the White House. A documentary film about this project is being produced and, without a doubt, the resulting footage will be both dramatic and powerful. 

Matanel Bitton and Efrat Dotan have begun to challenge public opinion about individuals with mental disabilities and have already opened the doors to new opportunities for this community. They are wonderful examples of societal integration and previously untapped human potential.