I was afraid to go to Israel. Then I was afraid to leave.
ALLIE RUBENSTEIN January 14, 2024 In the middle of Hanukkah, my stomach dropped when I got an email offering me a spot on a volunteer trip to Israel. I’d applied a few weeks prior, at which point the reality of actually booking my ticket and flying to a war zone hadn’t hit me. I had […]
20th of February 2020
What a Rainy Winter it Was
by Ilan Wagner Onward Israel President/CEO While Israel has enjoyed one of its rainiest seasons on record (accompanied by worries about climate change as well), at Onward Israel we are enjoying the variety and scope of our winter programs. Although programs continue into mid-March and one of them has not yet begun, we are anticipating […]
13th of December 2019
Looking Onward: Towards 2020
by Ilan WagnerOnward Israel President & CEO The Year That Was, The Year That Will Be From a programmatic point of view we can sum up 2019 as our biggest and best year to date: 2806 participants (12% growth) and quality improvements in six of the seven indicators we use to measure ourselves. When we […]
9th of December 2019
Onward Israel on ILTV Israel News
Onward Israel CEO Ilan Wagner visits the ILTV Israel News office to talk about the benefit of Onward Israel for participants and for employers in Israel.
1st of October 2019
Looking Onward: Summer ’19 – Bigger & Better
Beware of Spoilers In the previous issue of Looking Onward, I was proud to update regarding the growth in applicants and participants in 2019- the seventh consecutive year of such expansion. Certainly making the Onward Israel opportunity available to growing numbers of eligible young people is one of our chief strategic objectives. It is not […]
7th of August 2019
6 Lessons Learned When Spending Time Away From Home: Israel Edition
by Julia Cordover, Onward Israel University of Florida, Summer 2019 Let life take you on a (camel) ride and don’t let the humps stop you from having an enjoyable experience. Hello & Shalom! It was an opportunity for me to better myself. To genuinely learn about the basic things of life we (students) […]
17th of July 2019
Not Just a Summer Internship Program
by Ilan Wagner Certainly, the internship is at the heart of the Onward Israel Experience for most participants. But to say that Onward Israel is only an internship program is a bit reductionist. Last weekend for example nearly 700 participants took place in a wide variety of educational activities within the framework of Onward Israel’s […]
17th of July 2019
The Results Are In
by Ilan Wagner Now that the dust has settled (until the next Hamsin that is…), I can offer an overall assessment of Onward Israel Summer 2019, our biggest year ever (until now at least). 6300 young people applied for an Onward Israel program in 2019, up 9% from 2018, resulting in 2811 participants, a growth […]
30th of May 2019
The Growth of the Campus Initiative
Two years ago, after consultations with our funders and partners, Onward Israel partnered with Hillel on an exciting new program line: the campus initiative. Several insights inspired this direction: many prospective participants go to school outside of large Federation catchment areas; 90% of Onward Israel participants are on campus as they come on the program: […]
30th of May 2019
Future IL is almost Present
In previous updates I have written about the Future IL Job and Opportunity Fair. The purpose of Future IL is to foster the connections between young Internationals (among them of course our Onward Israel participants) and Israeli companies, with a lead goal to mutually expose these two groups to future employment opportunities. We know how […]