Updated June 15, 2021
On May 20th, a cease fire went to effect on Israel’s southern border with the Gaza Strip. The cease fire has been upheld since then, although yesterday (June 15) tensions increased in connection with the “Flag Parade” in Jerusalem. Due to the complexity and dynamism of the issues involved we are carefully monitoring the situation on a daily basis, and making any adjustments to our programs due to changes in the security situation.
In general, we prioritize the safety, health and security of our participants while also striving to facilitate their immersion into Israeli life and society and their exploration of the country, as key elements of the Onward Israel Experience.
Our security protocols rest on the following important elements:
- All participants receive a detailed safety and security orientation at the very beginning of the program. This orientation is repeated as a refresher during the program itself. This orientation also includes training about how to use conduct oneself in public spaces if there is an air raid siren
- All housing units have immediate and quick access to safe spaces in the event of air raid sirens. These spaces include “safe rooms” within apartments, shelters or reinforced stairwells
- Participants are shown these spaces and taken to them physically as part of the safety and security orientation
- The initial orientation at each internship site includes learning about and practicing access to the safe space at the worksite
- All educational trips and activity are vetted on the day of implementation by the Israeli Ministry of Education’s “Moked Teva”- which approves every itinerary based on updated security developments and dictates what additional security measures must be taken for each itinerary, if applicable
- All participants are part of a Whattsapp group, run by their group counselor, through which all pertinent security information is clearly communicated to participants. In addition, participants are part of a wider Onward Israel Whattsapp group as an additional source of information
- Onward Israel is in daily coordination with Masa Israel Journey, The Jewish Agency for Israel and Birthright Israel for safety and security updates
- Participants are instructed to share individual travel plans with their program staff in order to get directions about safe and secure ways to travel in their free time
- Please see our “Contact Us” page should you have additional questions. We are happy to answer further questions (including those security related), however, ask that you direct non-emergency inquiries or those in regard to participants who are not currently in Israel to our general inquiries phone line and email address. While these avenues are only staffed during North American working hours, we will do our best to respond as quickly as possible. We have an Emergency Helpline available for urgent/immediate problems related to participants who are currently in Israel.
