• Blog

    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 […]


    30th of May 2019

    The First Ever Onward Israel Hackathon

    Several months ago, the Onward Israel staff suggested that we stage a Hackathon for Onward Israel participants. After a few short months, a partner was identified, Impact Labs, and intensive planning began. The Hackathon was integrated into the menu of choices offered to  participants for their Breakout Seminars and a brief marketing campaign was launched. […]