With the field of Israel education in a state of flux after the Oct. 7 terror attacks, The iCenter, formed 17 years ago to bolster the then-nascent field, announced Wednesday that it will be shutting down most of its operations, save for a few core programs. Its already scheduled programs will take place as planned, the group’s board said in an email to stakeholders. 

“This decision is not taken lightly but rather as part of a broader, coordinated effort to align future investments in Israel education with emerging needs and opportunities,” the board wrote.

In the missive, The iCenter board described the decision to shut down as both “an ending and a handoff,” as the field of Israel education has both grown since the organization launched in 2008 and changed significantly over the past two-plus years since the Oct. 7 terror attacks. 

“Practitioners and funders alike are grappling with new realities, new questions and new demands that differ significantly from those that shaped the field’s original growth phase,” the board said. “The next chapter will reflect different structures, different forms of collaboration and different investment strategies than those for which The iCenter was originally designed. Concluding The iCenter’s operations allows space for that rethinking to occur, and for resources, attention, and leadership to be redeployed in ways better aligned with what lies ahead.”

Last March, The iCenter’s founding CEO, Anne Lanski, stepped down from her role. After a few months without a chief executive, Dan Tatar was named interim CEO of the organization last September and has been leading the organization since. 

While much of the organization’s activities will be winding down, several programs will continue. This includes its graduate degree in Israel education at George Washington University and its Conflicts of Interest certificate program, which launched in mid-2023. When the current cohort of iFellows graduates in the spring, the program will be put on hiatus. 

The organization said that it was still working on how to maintain its more than 1,200-person alumni network and how to maintain its “extensive body of intellectual property, including curricula, textbooks, graphics and know-how” so that it could be accessed by practitioners in the field. 

In its email, The iCenter board, which comprises several North American and Israeli lay leaders, stressed that its members and the organization’s key funders “remain deeply committed to the field” of Israel education and that the decision to shutter the organization “represents a strategic reset and transition, intended to ensure that future efforts are aligned, informed, and positioned for lasting impact.”

In a joint statement shared with eJewishPhilanthropy, The iCenter’s main funders — The Jim Joseph Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies and The Marcus Foundation — thanked the organization’s board and professional team. “Together, they helped build a field that is stronger, more professionalized, more connected and more intellectually rigorous because of their work. Their vision, persistence, and collaborative spirit have shaped Israel education in lasting ways,” the foundations said. 

“The impact of The iCenter is visible in the thousands of educators and learners it has trained over the past 15 years, and in the many institutions and networks that continue to carry this work forward,” he said. “We are proud to have partnered in that journey, and we remain fully committed to supporting and investing in Israel education in ways that honor this legacy and strengthen the field in the years ahead.”