Israel’s higher education is becoming another casualty in constant crises - opinion

Yishai Fraenkel, VP at Hebrew University, argues that Israel's prolonged state of emergency risks eroding its higher education system. He warns that while urgent defense and social needs consume resources, universities—the foundation of Israel's innovation edge—must not be neglected. The piece calls for sustained philanthropic investment in academia as a generational strategic asset.

Yishai Fraenkel, Vice President for Advancement and External Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, argues that Israel's prolonged state of emergency—spanning the Israel-Hamas War, the hostage crisis, and evolving threats from Iran—risks eroding the country's higher education system. He notes that while the philanthropic response to immediate needs has been extraordinary, prolonged emergencies narrow the field of vision, making it difficult to think beyond the next crisis. Fraenkel warns that enormous public resources will necessarily be devoted to defense, reconstruction, and social consequences of war, creating a long-term risk that universities—the institutions responsible for Israel's future strength—will be asked to do more precisely when public resources are stretched thinnest. He emphasizes that Israel's innovation edge, built over decades of investment in human capital, cannot be taken for granted. The piece highlights the Hebrew University's role in producing 10 Nobel laureates and educating generations of leaders, and calls for sustained philanthropic investment in academia as a generational strategic asset. The framing relies on historical analogy (post-Second Temple rebuilding around learning) and appeals to long-term responsibility rather than immediate evidence of current damage.