Opinion
HUMAN CAPITAL
Securing Israel’s future by supporting the people behind its technology
In Short
We must not overlook investing in the future, despite the tumult of the present.
As Jews around the world remain focused on the military dimensions of Israel’s multifront war, they should also be paying closer attention to the nation’s credit rating.
When Moody’s downgraded Israel two notches, it served as a warning signal for the country’s future: Invest more in Israel’s economic resilience today, or assume the risk of a long-term financial crisis tomorrow. Although the recent ceasefire with Lebanon has credit rating agencies projecting more positively about the Israeli economy, both Moody’s and Fitch acknowledged that the fragility of the truce means it is too early to deem any wartime-related risk factors significantly reduced.
The good news is that we already know the Israeli economy is capable of resilience in fraught times. The Bank of Israel calculated that the 2014 Gaza war had yielded a GDP decrease of only 0.3%, while the 2006 war in Lebanon resulted in a 0.5% reduction.
We also know that Israel’s globally respected high-tech sector is already demonstrating this resilience during the current war. According to the Israel Innovation Authority, the high-tech industry remains an indispensable component of the Israeli economy, contributing nearly one-fifth (19.7%) of Israel’s GDP last year and accounting for more than half of the nation’s exports.
This is precisely where the Diaspora can enter the picture in a productive, meaningful and impactful way.
For more than a year now, the outpouring of solidarity from world Jewry, and particularly from North American Jewry, has been inspiring and overwhelming. Regardless of their means, donors are looking to support Israel in any way that they can.
At this point, the lifesaving capabilities of the Iron Dome are hardly a secret, but Israel’s “secret weapon” — and the resource that needs more philanthropic support in this moment — is the human capital driving the country’s technology-driven economy.
To date, much of the international philanthropy during the war has focused on Israel’s immediate and emergency needs, and justifiably so. This has ranged from aid for widows and orphans to resettling evacuees, and rebuilding shattered kibbutzim to expanding mental health resources for a population grappling with a surge in trauma.
According to a survey of 73 Jewish organizations conducted by CCS Fundraising and released in September, 64% of organizations reported an increase in crisis-related funding since Oct. 7, 2023. The primary concerns for donors were identified as “supporting Israel” (24%) and “combating antisemitism” (23%), with other priorities including ensuring the security of Jewish institutions, addressing campus antisemitism and anti-Zionism, enriching Jewish life and Jewish youth education.
The words “economy,” “technology,” and “higher education” are nowhere to be found in this survey’s findings — but they should be. Israel’s long-term future will be built on the people behind the technology. Who will develop the next Iron Dome? It will be Israel’s young engineers and technology professionals who will fill essential roles in the high-tech and defense sectors. In turn, high-tech will drive the Israeli economy forward in the post-war era, and economic strength will ensure that Israel can defend itself in the future.
This reality is powerfully evident from the wartime story of Afeka Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv. A staggering 42% of the college’s students were called to active military duty after Oct. 7, putting many who were on the verge of graduating at high risk of not completing their studies and, consequently, not filling essential roles in Israel’s high-tech workforce.
And yet, knowing all too well that the field of engineering took on unprecedented importance for Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks, Afeka set out to ensure a “zero dropout” rate due to the war by developing a comprehensive support package to address the diverse needs of its students. In the early months of the war, all courses were taught through Afeka’s synchronous hybrid model. This approach allows students who are able to attend in-person classes to do so, while those who cannot be physically present can participate remotely asynchronously.
We also recognize that online learning alone is not sufficient for many students who are either missing substantial portions of the semester or constantly transitioning between military service and their studies. To support these students, the college is offering repeating or time-condensed courses dedicated to reservists. Afeka College also took the radical step of allowing reservists who missed or failed courses to repeat them at no extra cost, even if those courses were not originally scheduled for repetition. Finally, we have offered personalized academic assistance, including advising, mentoring and private and group tutoring sessions.
The result was that in the 2023-2024 academic year, despite delaying the graduation ceremony for several months to allow reservists to complete their academic obligations, we produced our largest graduating class to date, defying the odds during a time of deep disruption. Embarking on a new school year, we are confident that the college will continue to weather the storm of war through innovation.
Many students, including first-year students, remain on active duty, and their service commitments are expected to continue. To continuously ensure that each student stands ready to provide much-needed support for Israel’s increasingly important high-tech sector, we have launched the “AsOne” student wartime support fund. By providing support that ensures their continued education and successful completion of their degrees, we are preparing our students today to become the engineering high-tech leaders and innovators of tomorrow.
We can secure Israel’s resilience, recovery and growth during and after wartime. The people behind Israel’s technology are Israel’s future — and we must not overlook the future, despite the tumult of the present.
Ami Moyal is the president of Afeka Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv and a former CEO of a high-tech company.