Mouna Maroun was appointed Rector of the University of Haifa, becoming the first member of Israel’s Arab minority – an underprivileged group that, according to rights organisations, continues to face structural discrimination – ever to hold the role at an Israeli university.
Maroun is also a Christian, hailing from a small Maronite Catholic village on the slopes of Mount Carmel. Christians make up only around 7% of the total Israeli Arab population, which in turn represents about one fifth of Israel’s total, and Maroun’s tale of success – as a woman, an Arab, and a Christian – is therefore a noteworthy one.
Her election was “a miracle”, Maroun tells Vatican News, coming as it did only a few months after Hamas’ 7th October attacks and rising tensions between Arabs and Jews within Israel.  In April 2024, she had been appointed the University of Haifa’s Rector, or chief academic officer, a role second only to the President in the university hierarchy. 
Speaking recently to the Vatican News Maroun describes her appointment as a “message of hope” and a sign that “things can be different in Israel”, that Jews and Arabs “can succeed together and can live together”.