Pesach Benson

Ahead of Passover 5786, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel is publishing the procedures and guidelines for marketing networks, supermarkets, and restaurants, for the purpose of preparation and providing Passover kosher certification.
The procedures include:
· Preparation of restaurants and marketing networks for Passover 5786.
· Chametz blocking procedure for the year 5786.
· Suggestions for Passover 5786 signs.
Early and organized preparation allows for the provision of Passover kosher certification uniformly and without glitches. All procedures and files are published on the website of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
For the full procedures: click here

By Pesach Benson • January 11, 2026

Jerusalem, 11 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Scientists have discovered a surprising feature in the teeth of the Atlantic wolffish that could inspire stronger bone prosthetics and body armor, and even more resilient vehicles, Israeli scientists announced.

At the heart of these teeth is a tissue called osteodentin, which shrinks in every direction when squeezed — a behavior almost never seen in natural, mineral-rich materials. This unusual property allows the teeth to absorb crushing forces, offering a blueprint for creating materials that are both tough and damage-resistant.

Normally, when materials are compressed along their length, they expand sideways. But osteodentin does the opposite, a rare property known as auxeticity, in which a material shrinks in all directions under pressure instead of bulging outward. In tests, when researchers applied force along the tooth’s axis, mimicking the wolffish’s powerful bite, the tissue contracted both sideways and lengthwise. Across all eight teeth studied, measurements fell in a range rarely seen even in man-made materials.

“This was astonishing,” said Prof. Ron Shahar of the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine at Hebrew University, who led the research. “Osteodentin behaves in a way that almost no other natural mineralized tissue does. Its structure allows the tooth to absorb heavy loads safely and efficiently. Nature has built a design that protects the fish from the extreme forces of its diet, and this could inspire new synthetic materials with similar toughness.”

The Atlantic wolffish (Anarhichas lupus) is a marine predator with an eel-like body found in the North Atlantic Ocean. Its most striking feature is its powerful jaws and large, sharp teeth, especially the canines and molar-like teeth in the back of the mouth, which allow the wolffish to crush shells that many other fish cannot. The osteodentin tissue makes the teeth less prone to breaking.

The team used advanced X-ray scanning and 3D mapping techniques to see exactly how the teeth deform under pressure. They found that osteodentin contracts evenly in all directions during compression, a highly unusual response in natural materials.

The secret lies in the tissue’s tiny structure. Osteodentin has a dense network of vertical canals, 10–20 microns wide, running from the base to the tip of the tooth and curving outward near the surface. This arrangement causes the mineral columns between the canals to bend inward when squeezed, increasing the tooth’s toughness and reducing the chance of cracking, the scientists said.

Tests also showed that while the mineral in osteodentin is about as stiff as bone, it is this unique architecture that makes the teeth so strong. “Similar behavior has been seen only in a few invertebrates, like limpet teeth and nacre,” Shahar said.

The researchers believe this feature may exist in other fish as well, suggesting a wider role for osteodentin in nature. Beyond understanding how teeth survive extreme stress, the discovery provides a model for designing synthetic materials that are strong, durable, and absorb energy—qualities valuable in medicine, aerospace, and engineering.

Materials inspired by osteodentin could be used in bone implants, dental prosthetics, and joint replacements, making them more durable, crack-resistant, and able to absorb stress. The discovery raises the possibility of engineering helmets, body armor, sports gear, and even shoes or phone cases with lightweight materials that more effectively absorb impact.

The design principles could also benefit engineering, aerospace, and automotive applications. Vehicles, aircraft, and buildings could incorporate auxetic-inspired materials to withstand repeated stress, collisions, or vibrations while remaining strong and lightweight.

“Studying osteodentin gives us insight into how nature creates materials that are both tough and resilient,” Shahar said. “It’s a remarkable example of natural engineering that could help guide new technologies.”

The study was published in the peer-reviewed Acta Biomaterialia.

By Pesach Benson • December 9, 2025

Jerusalem, 9 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Learning doesn’t have to slow down with age. In fact, new Israeli-U.S. research shows that older adults can thrive when taught the way young people are—through active participation, meaningful discussion, and material that connects to their lives. The findings suggest that seniors can boost memory, maintain emotional well-being, and even gain a renewed sense of purpose by engaging in education that respects their life experience.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed Educational Gerontology, was conducted by Prof. Anat Zohar of the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Dr. Yochai Z. Shavit of the Stanford Center on Longevity. It challenges the long-held assumption that aging inevitably limits learning, showing instead that the right teaching methods can help older adults thrive.

“We’re teaching older adults the wrong way,” said Zohar. “The dominant model is still the lecture, but it is built on assumptions that simply don’t hold for older learners. First, it relies heavily on memorization, even though memory is the very ability that tends to decline with age. Second, it doesn’t connect new ideas to the rich knowledge and life experience older adults already have—one of their greatest learning resources. And third, lectures rarely create the meaningful, relevant learning and relationships that drive motivation in later life. Despite the large industry built around them, lectures just don’t work pedagogically. Older adults enjoy attending them, but they don’t retain enough. High-quality, active learning can support cognitive abilities, promote health, and even contribute to longer lives.”

The research emphasizes that older adults learn best when education taps into their motivations, connects new knowledge to previous experience, and allows for active engagement. These principles mirror the methods that help children and young adults learn deeply, suggesting that age does not require a fundamentally different approach—just one that respects and builds on life experience.

The study builds on earlier research by the same team, which examined nineteen highly educated women in the “third age.” That research found that many participants felt they were learning better than at any earlier stage of life. They reported deeper understanding because they could connect new knowledge to decades of accumulated experience, challenging stereotypes about cognitive decline.

Shavit highlighted the psychological benefits of later-life learning. “Older adulthood is a time of real psychological depth,” he said. “When education taps into older adults’ motivations, like the search for meaning, connection, and self-understanding, it becomes not just effective, but deeply rewarding.”

Despite growing evidence supporting active, meaningful learning, many programs for older adults still rely on lecture-based formats. In the United States alone, the broader continuing education sector—which includes adult courses, vocational programs, and professional training—was valued at USD 66.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach about USD 96 billion by 2030. Yet a substantial portion of this spending continues to flow into formats that do not align with older adults’ learning needs.

The study suggests that universities, community colleges, and online learning platforms can apply these findings by redesigning courses to incorporate group discussions, hands-on projects, problem-solving exercises, and real-world case studies.

Employers and health programs can also benefit from these insights. Workplace training for older employees can shift from passive instruction to interactive workshops, mentorship, and collaborative problem-solving, boosting skill acquisition and motivation. Similarly, cognitive health initiatives—such as language classes, skill-building workshops, or lifelong learning programs—can help maintain mental sharpness, support emotional well-being, and even contribute to longer, more engaged lives, turning education into both a professional and personal resource for older adults.

“Older adults are not a separate category requiring entirely different rules,” Zohar said. “They are part of the continuous story of human learning, and education should treat them that way.”

By Pesach Benson • December 7, 2025

Jerusalem, 7 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — For many adults recovering from cancer, finishing treatment does not mean the end of challenges. Subtle but disruptive changes in memory, attention, and mental processing—often called “chemobrain”—can make work, relationships, and everyday routines unexpectedly difficult. A new study offers hope that a remote, group-based cognitive rehabilitation program can help survivors regain confidence, improve daily functioning, and feel less alone in the process.

The intervention combines cognitive training exercises with occupational-therapy–based strategies and weekly group sessions conducted entirely online. In the pilot study, a small group of adults participated in six weekly meetings and engaged in personalized digital brain-training activities.

Participants reported noticeable improvements in their ability to manage everyday tasks, from organizing work projects to handling household responsibilities. Beyond cognitive gains, many said the group format helped them feel understood and supported, providing emotional validation and a sense of community that eased the isolation often experienced after cancer treatment.

The remote, online format allowed participants to join from home, making it easier to fit the program into their daily routines. Its digital, group-based design also makes the intervention scalable, offering the potential to reach a larger number of survivors without the logistical challenges of in-person programs.

“Cancer survivors often tell us they feel like they’ve ‘lost’ parts of themselves after treatment,” said Prof. Yafit Gilboa, the principal investigator of the study. “Our goal was to offer a practical, compassionate, and accessible way to help them regain control—to show them that their cognitive challenges are real, understandable, and, importantly, treatable. Seeing participants improve in the activities that matter most to them is exactly why we do this work.”

While improvements in objective cognitive tests were modest—common in research on cancer-related cognitive impairment—most participants reported meaningful gains in self-perceived cognitive functioning.

The program, known as CRAFT-G (Cognitive Retraining and Functional Treatment – Group version), was developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Based on these promising early results, the team concludes that the approach is both feasible and potentially effective. They recommend larger trials to further validate its benefits, and a new study is already underway focusing on breast cancer survivors.

The research, published in *Supportive Care in Cancer* under the title “Remote group intervention for adults with cancer-related cognitive impairment: a feasibility study,” highlights the potential of online, group-based interventions to help survivors manage the cognitive effects of cancer treatment and reclaim their daily lives.

By Pesach Benson • December 7, 2025

Jerusalem, 7 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Navigation apps may be quietly discouraging commuters from walking, but a new proof-of-concept study suggests that changing those built-in defaults could unlock surprising health gains—without adding a single minute to travel time. By adjusting walking distance thresholds in trip-planning models, researchers found that most commuters could incorporate an average of nine extra minutes of walking while still arriving at work at the same time.

The project was developed at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University as part of Prof. Jonathan Rabinowitz’s More Walking Project, in collaboration with the Israeli Smart Transportation Research Center (ISTRC). Rabinowitz, from the university’s Weisfeld School of Social Work, said the findings point to a simple but powerful behavioral shift. “This means you can leave home at the same time, get to work at the same time, and walk more along the way,” he said. Calling it “a simple shift with significant benefits,” he noted that the study builds on work in his Wellness Research Lab, which explores everyday strategies for improving well-being.

The research team analyzed potential commuting routes for more than 2,100 employees traveling to the university. Their models showed that raising the walking thresholds in navigation tools allowed commuters to fit moderate physical activity into their routines without sacrificing time. A brisk 20-minute daily walk has been associated with reducing the risk of early death by up to 25%, making integrated movement a practical option for people with demanding schedules.

Rabinowitz said the idea for the project grew out of his son’s recovery from an army injury. “We saw how impactful small, consistent steps could be. This led us to ask: What if our daily maps nudged us to walk just a bit more?” he said.

The study also tested a concept the team called Hacking the Map Apps for Active Transportation. Instead of relying on the common “less walking” default built into most navigation apps, the researchers examined what would happen if commuters selected a “more walking” option. The results challenged assumptions: increasing walking distance did not necessarily lengthen commutes, and in some cases, travel times even shortened due to more efficient transfers and street connections.

The findings also open the door for new digital tools that promote healthier commuting. Smart mobility platforms could introduce small incentives for choosing routes with more walking, while personal health apps and wearables could recommend commute-based walking as a practical way for users to meet daily activity goals. By aligning transit technology with wellness tracking, even small adjustments in routine travel could translate into meaningful, sustained health improvements.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed BMC Public Health, was led by the late Bar-Ilan researcher Dr. Yuval Hadas, graduate student Dan Katz, and Prof. Rabinowitz. It marks the first phase of a broader national initiative to promote active transportation. The ongoing stage now involves helping commuters use existing apps to increase walking and tracking how those changes affect behavior.

By Pesach Benson • December 3, 2025

Jerusalem, 3 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Chronic pain may not just be a physical condition — it’s also deeply tied to how patients process anger and perceive fairness. An Israeli-led international study found that people who feel wronged or unfairly treated by their condition are more likely to experience severe, long-lasting pain, suggesting that emotional factors could be just as important as biology in predicting outcomes.

The research team, led by Dr. Gadi Gilam, head of the translational Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience (tSCAN) lab at the Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research at Hebrew University, examined more than 700 adults living with chronic pain. Collaborators included teams from Stanford University, Boston University, and the University of Innsbruck. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed The Journal of Pain.

Using a method called latent profile analysis, the researchers identified four “anger profiles,” capturing how patients experience, express, and regulate anger, and how strongly they feel wronged by their situation. The results were striking. Participants with medium to high levels of both anger and perceived injustice — those who saw their pain as unfair or representing a personal loss — reported the worst outcomes. They experienced higher pain intensity, more widespread discomfort, and greater disability and emotional distress.

By contrast, patients who managed their anger effectively and maintained a less resentful view of their condition fared significantly better over time.

“Anger is not inherently bad,” Gilam explained. “It is a common daily emotional signal and can promote personal and inter-personal well-being when regulated well. But when anger mixes with a sense of injustice, which in itself is a trigger for angry reactions, it can trap people in a cycle of emotional and physical suffering that amplifies and maintains chronic pain.”

The study followed 242 participants for about five months, confirming that anger profiles predicted future pain outcomes even after accounting for anxiety and depression. The findings suggest that assessing anger and perceived injustice could serve as an early warning system, helping clinicians identify patients at risk for long-term, high-impact pain and design more targeted treatment plans.

“This study highlights that how patients feel about their pain, particularly whether they see it as unfair, may be just as important as the biological causes,” Gilam said. “We currently do not have a simple pill to cure chronic pain, nor do we have strong tools to predict whose pain will persist. Integrating anger and injustice assessments into treatment could fundamentally improve outcomes.”

The research emphasizes practical interventions, including Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy and compassion-based approaches, to help patients process anger and reframe perceptions of unfairness. Experts say this shift could transform pain care by addressing not only physical symptoms but also the emotional and psychological dimensions that keep pain alive.

For patients, understanding the role of anger and injustice in their suffering may open new paths to relief. Techniques such as Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), mindfulness, or cognitive-behavioral strategies can help individuals recognize when anger or a sense of injustice is intensifying their suffering. Learning to reframe pain as a neutral biological experience rather than a personal wrong may reduce its perceived intensity.

For clinicians, the findings offer a path toward more personalized, effective care. Assessing patients’ anger profiles and perceptions of injustice can help identify those at higher risk for persistent or severe pain. Treatment plans can then combine conventional approaches, such as medications and physical therapy, with emotion-focused interventions tailored to the patient’s psychological profile.

By Pesach Benson • December 2, 2025

Jerusalem, 2 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Specialized computer-based training can significantly reduce the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among combat soldiers, confirming and extending results first observed more than a decade ago, Israeli scientists announced. The findings highlight the potential of attentional training to protect soldiers’ mental health — and the consequences when such programs are discontinued.

The study, conducted in 2022–2023 with over 500 infantry soldiers, was led by Prof. Yair Bar-Haim, Director of the National Center for Traumatic Stress and Resilience and a member of the School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University, together with doctoral student Chelsea Gober Dykan. It was carried out in collaboration with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Medical Corps and the U.S. Department of Defense, and now appears in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Psychiatry.

PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event. Symptoms include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts. People with PTSD often avoid reminders of the trauma and may experience negative changes in beliefs and feelings. The condition is typically managed with therapy and medication.

In two years of war, more than 3,700 Israeli soldiers have been diagnosed with PTSD, while another 9,000 have applied for recognition.

Bar-Haim explained that the program, originally developed during a 2012 trial, uses simple computer‑based tasks in which soldiers view both neutral and threatening images or words, replaced by target shapes. “The soldiers are asked to identify the targets, a process that gradually trains them to direct more attention toward potential threats in their environment,” he said. Sessions last about ten minutes and are completed individually over four days.

In the original 2014 study among roughly 800 recruits undergoing basic training, the effect became evident during six weeks of war in Gaza. Four months later, 7.8% of untrained soldiers were diagnosed with PTSD, compared with just 2.6% of those who had completed the training.

The 2022–2023 replication trial divided soldiers into three groups: one third followed the original protocol, another third a revised version based on eye‑tracking technology, and the remainder placebo training. Soldiers were then deployed on their first rotations in Judea and Samaria, after which researchers assessed PTSD risk.

The results again favored the original protocol. In the control group, 5.3% reported clinically significant post‑traumatic symptoms; in the revised‑training group, 2.7%; and among those who completed the original program, just 0.9%.

“Replication of findings is a critical component of clinical science and provides confidence in the validity of results,” Prof. Bar-Haim said. “We once again found that the attentional training we developed is effective in reducing the risk of PTSD among soldiers deployed on operational settings, which further strengthens our confidence in its impact—that’s the good news. However, we also saw that the additional method we tested proved to be less effective. That’s how it is in science: our hypotheses don’t always hold up under rigorous testing, and we must draw conclusions accordingly and refine our tools through further research.”

However, because of budget cuts in the IDF’s Mental Health Department, the program was discontinued in 2023, months before the October 7 attack on southern Israeli communities.

“The less encouraging news is that the program was not available in its most potent and tested form to soldiers heading into the Gaza and Lebanon campaigns,” Bar-Haim said. In response, he and his team worked with the IDF to develop a mobile application, “Combat Attention,” enabling soldiers to complete the training on personal phones ahead of ground operations.

Bar-Haim noted that the study was conducted before the war, when soldiers’ duties mostly involved low‑intensity combat. The training demonstrated significant differences in PTSD risk between those who underwent it and those who did not, making the program valuable for routine deployments. In wartime, such differences likely grow — making attentional training even more desirable. He added that sustaining such programs is vital for preserving hard‑won mental‑health capabilities. Decision‑makers should act now to allocate the necessary budgets and design long‑term, evidence‑based PTSD prevention and mitigation for deploying troops.

The new findings — combining rigorous replication with real-world deployment — show that targeted attentional training can deliver lasting protective effects, even under harsh operational conditions. Policymakers should treat these results as a wake‑up call: investing in preventive mental‑health tools can save lives, preserve force readiness and reduce long‑term burdens on veterans.

By Pesach Benson • November 24, 2025

Jerusalem, 24 November, 2025 (TPS-IL) — A study that could influence everything from child development research to the design of more natural-sounding AI argues that human language arose not from one evolutionary breakthrough but from the gradual convergence of biological capacities and cultural learning, according to Israeli scientists.

For centuries, scientists and philosophers have sought to explain how humans evolved the ability to speak, create grammar, and share meaning. Despite language being one of the defining traits of the human species, its roots have remained elusive.

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem attempted to break the impasse by bringing together findings from linguistics, psychology, genetics, neuroscience, and animal communication, creating what the authors describe as a unified framework for understanding language evolution.

Their study, recently published in the peer-reviewed Science journal, argues that language must be understood as a biocultural phenomenon built from multiple evolutionary threads rather than a single origin point.

“Crucially, our goal was not to come up with our own particular explanation of language evolution,” said first author Inbal Arnon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “Instead, we wanted to show how multifaceted and biocultural perspectives, combined with newly emerging sources of data, can shed new light on old questions.”

The researchers argue that no isolated biological or cultural capacity can explain the emergence of language. Human communication, they say, arose from the intersection of abilities such as producing novel sounds, recognizing patterns, forming complex social bonds, and transmitting knowledge within and across generations. This interaction between biology and culture, they believe, is essential for understanding how language became the richly structured system humans use today.

“The multifaceted nature of language can make it difficult to study, but also expands horizons for understanding its evolutionary origins,” said co-author Simon Fisher of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and Radboud University. “Rather than looking for that one special thing that singles humans out, we can identify different facets involved in language, and productively study them not just in our own species but also in non-human animals from different branches of the evolutionary tree.”

The authors caution that research has sometimes stalled because different scientific disciplines examined language in isolation. They argue that advancing the field requires an integrated approach capable of capturing the full range of biological and cultural forces that shape communication.

To illustrate the value of their framework, the paper examines three areas where a biocultural perspective helps clarify long-standing questions.

One focus is vocal learning, a skill crucial for human speech but limited among our closest primate relatives. Species such as birds, bats, and whales show far stronger vocal-learning abilities, and the authors say those comparisons offer key insights into human speech.

The research also highlights the slow emergence of linguistic structure, saying grammar took shape over generations through repeated use and cultural transmission, a process evident in the development of new sign languages and in laboratory simulations.

The study also points to the social foundations of language, noting that humans’ strong inclination to share information underpins communication yet appears rarely in other animals.

The findings offer several practical implications. For early childhood language interventions, the framework suggests that difficulties in speech or comprehension may arise from different underlying facets — such as vocal learning, pattern recognition, or social motivation — allowing clinicians to target therapies more precisely rather than treating language as a single, uniform skill.

The study also has relevance for artificial intelligence, indicating that communication systems become complex not through one breakthrough but through gradual cultural transmission and social interaction. AI models designed to learn in more interactive, human-like ways could develop more natural communication abilities.

Additionally, the biocultural approach may help researchers better understand and diagnose communication disorders by showing which specific components of language break down in conditions such as autism, developmental language disorder, or aphasia, leading to more focused and effective treatments.

By Pesach Benson • november 20, 2025

Jerusalem, 20 November, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel and India officially resumed negotiations on a free trade agreement on Thursday. The move comes as Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal arrived in Israel with a delegation of around 100 representatives from nearly 70 Indian companies.

“Today we are opening a new page in trade relations between Israel and India,” said Israeli Economy and Industry Minister Nir Barkat. “The official renewal of talks on a free trade agreement is a strategic achievement that strengthens the Israeli economy and creates huge opportunities for our exporters and industrialists. India is an economic powerhouse with tremendous potential for cooperation, and the personal and direct connection that has been built between the countries allows us to promote agreements that will generate growth, innovation, and jobs for Israelis.”

Goyal, on his first visit to Israel, stressed the opportunities of bilateral trade. “This is a match made in heaven that has touched the ground – India for Israel and Israel for India. Together with the investment agreement that has already been signed, we will open the markets together for the movement of goods, services, and investments. We strive for and will reach an agreement that is balanced, broad, and good for both sides.”

India, the world’s fifth-largest economy with a population of roughly 1.4 billion, is a strategic destination for Israeli exports. Exports of Israeli goods and services to India reached about $3.1 billion in 2024, growing 56% over four years despite regional conflicts. A free trade agreement is expected to reduce high tariffs and trade barriers while also addressing digital trade, services, intellectual property, government procurement, and other areas essential for deepening cooperation.

“India offers an investor-friendly and predictable atmosphere to do business. It offers huge opportunities for businesses of both sides,” Goyal said at the India-Israel Business Summit in Tel Aviv. He highlighted the ten “Ds” that make India an attractive investment hub, including democracy, demographic dividend, digitalisation, development, and decisive leadership.

Barkat called India a “great bet” for investment, describing it as “a giant waking up… huge size, huge growth. India is the biggest country, the world’s fifth-largest economy, and soon to be the third-largest. It is a great bet for us. I am telling everyone to hedge on India.” He highlighted opportunities for Indian infrastructure companies in Israel and praised initiatives like the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) for expanding connectivity and trade.

Barkat added, “We went through very challenging two years—a terrible war that exposed the monsters around us… But everyone understands we dismantled them. Despite that, India remains central to Israel’s strategic economic outlook. India is a great bet for us, and we want to be the best partner for India.”

Israel and India signed a bilateral investment agreement in September, which Israeli officials hailed as the first of its kind between India and a Western-oriented member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

By Pesach Benson and Omer Novoselsky • November 18, 2025

Jerusalem, 18 November, 2025 (TPS-IL) — After two years of war, reserve duty students in Israeli higher education institutions are expressing widespread dissatisfaction with academic support, according to a State Comptroller report released on Tuesday. Reservist students also shared with The Press Service of Israel their experiences of repeatedly moving between class and combat.

The report, prepared by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, examined how Israel’s higher education system responded to the unprecedented mobilization that followed the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. The Comptroller regularly audits Israel’s preparedness and the effectiveness of government policies.

According to the report, approximately 60,000 students—roughly 18% of all Israeli students—served in reserve duty during the 2023–24 academic year, with many serving extended periods. About 10,000 students served over 90 days between January and June 2024, representing more than half of that academic period.

“Students were required to mobilize for extended periods for the security of the state and its citizens; therefore, the Council for Higher Education and institutions must ensure that all rights they are entitled to and the required resources are fully secured to prevent, as much as possible, any harm to their academic, professional, and employment advancement,” the report stated. The Council for Higher Education is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing Israel’s higher education institutions.

However, surveys conducted by the State Comptroller revealed shortcomings. While 72% of institutions believed students were highly satisfied with academic support, only 31% of students reported high satisfaction levels. A striking 41% of surveyed students indicated they were dissatisfied with the assistance their institutions offered due to absences from reserve duty.

The report highlights mismatches between what students found most helpful and what institutions actually provided. Students identified tutoring sessions, written summaries of lectures, intensive courses, and completion weeks as most beneficial, yet many institutions failed to offer these services adequately.

Financial concerns were also a critical issue. Englman’s report found that 12% of 25 surveyed institutions did not provide full tuition refunds to reserve duty students who withdrew from studies, and 32% did not refund registration fees.

“The Council for Higher Education did not establish guidelines … concerning financial refunds for registration cancellation and tuition refunds for students who were called to reserve duty and forced to cancel or discontinue their studies,” the report noted.

Budget utilization revealed additional problems. Institutions used only NIS 124 million ($38.45 million) of the NIS 195 million ($60.47 million) allocated specifically for supporting reserve duty students—less than two-thirds of available funds.
The audit also documented 1,423 reserve duty students who dropped out during the 2023–24 academic year. No comprehensive analysis was conducted to identify reasons for student attrition, Englman reported.

From Combat to Campus and Back

Interviews with reservist students illuminate the personal impact behind these figures. TPS-IL changed the names of the students because none wanted to be identified by name. As one student put it, “I don’t want arrest warrants.”

Ronnie, 29, is a computer science student at Ariel University. In the last two years, he has served 350 days in a tank unit and has another round of reserve duty coming up.

“I was in my final year of studies when the war began. I went into five months of reserve duty. Obviously the whole beginning of the academic year went down the drain… Luckily, it was my last year, so there wasn’t that much left.”

He recalled the challenges of returning from combat to campus. “There were days where I had just come from Gaza. Seeing people living a normal daily life – it was a crazy shock. It takes time to adjust.”

Then there were the professional setbacks: “For two years, I had nothing to look for in terms of employment… Every two or three months I had reserve duty. It’s like a wheel rolling downhill – over time it gets harder.”

Benny, 25, is studying psychology and economics, also at Ariel University. He served approximately 300 days.

“It was hard for me that reserve duty hit right at the beginning of the academic year… But specifically at Ariel, they’re very, very supportive… Alternative assessments instead of exams, tutors, flexibility with assignments. You feel the hug for reservists.”

He added, “They should make it possible for you to go to reserve duty with peace of mind, or at least as much peace as possible, and not constantly be stressed about studying in the middle of nowhere. There were people opening textbooks in Gaza.”

Uri, a political science student at Hebrew University of Jerusalem has done 370 days of reserve duty. “Since the war, the reserves themselves have become my routine and everything else has taken a lower place… The transition from making life-and-death decisions to sitting in a classroom is intense. It requires a lot of mental strength,” he told TPS-IL.

“What I would like the public to understand is that there is a huge gap around the experience of war itself between civilian and military society. While civil society has long since adapted to the situation, those who are in the reserves continue to experience the war at its peak,” he added.

Michael’s studies in politics and media at the Jerusalem Multidisciplinary Academic Center were interrupted by 350 days of reserve duty.

“The college is very considerate. Exemptions from courses helped me the most… They could have told a student to deal with it, but they came to their aid,” he told TPS-IL.

“The exemptions from the courses are the things that helped me the most, The fact they gave me an exemption from a course and reduced my load,” he added.

The State Comptroller recommended that the Council for Higher Education develop a long-term strategic plan for supporting reserve duty students, establish systematic oversight mechanisms, mandate periodic satisfaction surveys, and examine options for requiring institutions to provide full refunds to students forced to withdraw due to military service.

“These steps will reflect the state’s commitment to reserve duty soldiers who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice greatly for the State of Israel and its residents,” the report said.