The government unanimously approved a national plan to strengthen Jewish education in the diaspora, led by the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, with a budget of NIS 200 million. The plan aims to increase enrollment in Jewish schools and strengthen Jewish identity among young diaspora Jews, targeting barriers like tuition costs, geographic accessibility, and educational quality.
Sunday's cabinet decision marks a significant investment in diaspora-Jewish education, aiming to reverse a trend where only a fraction of an estimated 1.8 million Jewish children of school age in the United States study in Jewish educational institutions. The NIS 200 million plan targets key barriers: tuition costs, geographic accessibility, and a shortage of services for students with learning disabilities, alongside strengthening school excellence. The initiative also includes developing digital tools to widen access. According to the government announcement, the decision was made in a meeting attended by Gary Torgow, chairman of the Jewish Federations of North America, and Eric Fingerhut, president of the federations, who welcomed the cooperation. The plan comes against a backdrop of rising antisemitic incidents since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which the government cites as a strategic rationale. No detailed timeline or implementation milestones were provided beyond the framework approval. The Zioneer previously covered related government education investments, such as a NIS 100 million supplement for informal education (June 11) and a NIS 2.4 billion plan to incentivize aliyah of doctors (June 16), but this is a new, diaspora-specific initiative.
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- Internal intake