From the battle to the classroom: Behind the scenes of Israel’s wartime academic year

Early in his service in the combat engineering force within IDF Unit 77 in Gaza, Guy Chen felt a strong pull to begin what was already a delayed school year at Afeka Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv. 

Indeed, Chen’s officers allowed him to depart from Gaza. But that didn’t quite mean a return to normalcy.

“This is not what a regular 25-year-old should have to deal with,” said the second-year student in electrical engineering. “I lived in a tent for almost half a year. When I finished my reserves, I moved from my parents’ to an apartment in Ramat Gan. It was so weird going back to civilization. I felt my world was upside down. I felt like my routine was surreal. All these people who were brothers to me, I don’t see them anymore.”

For about six weeks, Chen functioned as a logistical soldier outside of Gaza while simultaneously logging in to his Afeka lectures via Zoom until his official release from the IDF reserves. In fact, his story is all too typical of the Israeli higher education experience during the recently completed 2023-24 academic year. 

Adapting on the fly

With Israel mobilizing 360,000 reservists for Operation Swords of Iron, colleges and universities temporarily lost a significant share of their students, faculty, and staff. This was especially true at Afeka, given that the highest rate of students on reserve duty after the October 7 attacks were being called to the IDF’s engineering-focused units. For Afeka, this meant that more than 40% of its students were summoned to military service, among them those who were on the verge of completing their degree.

These extenuating circumstances compelled Israel’s academic institutions to adapt on the fly, particularly in terms of meeting the needs of student-reservists, as well as those who remained on campus.

Afeka’s response was to develop a comprehensive support package for students. With the academic year beginning two and a half months late, Afeka began teaching all courses through its synchronous hybrid model. This innovative approach enables students to attend in-person classes, while those who cannot be physically present can participate remotely. 

Further, recognizing that online learning alone was not sufficient for many students who either missed substantial portions of the semester in reserve duty or who constantly transitioned between military service and their studies, Afeka offered personalized academic assistance. This included advising, mentoring, private and group tutoring sessions, and time-condensed course options.

By the end of the school year, despite the disruptions caused by the war, Afeka produced its largest graduating class to date.

“We firmly committed ourselves to ensuring that every student completes the academic year successfully and on time – ‘zero dropout’ due to the war – and we are doing everything within our power to achieve this goal,” Prof. Ami Moyal, president of Afeka College, said at the graduation ceremony on June 19. “For those who have answered the call to service with profound willingness, we must provide unwavering support and assistance to help them navigate the completion of their studies, out of concern for their future and without compromising the quality of their education.”

Stepping up for student-soldiers

Among the fruits of this labor is producing young professionals like Nofar Shlosberg, who studies software engineering at Afeka. She currently works at the Defense Ministry on a special joint project with the IDF, focusing on developing drones that will one day give Israeli soldiers a significant advantage on the battlefield. 

“Afeka really set me up for success and ensured I did well despite my army obligations,” said Shlosberg, who this year completed her fourth year of a five-year program that combines master’s and bachelor’s degrees. “They also taught me the skills I needed to obtain a good job even before graduation. Now at the Ministry of Defense, I see a lot of Afeka grads who are also developing interesting innovative technologies, and it feels like we’re part of a family. It’s heartwarming to see.”

Chen praised the college for “doing a good job of trying to give the soldiers coming back a soft landing.” Thanks to extra credit points from previous semesters, he was able to take easier courses upon his return, and now he will take more classes over the summer. At the same time, he acknowledges that a full return to normalcy isn’t realistic.

“I feel normal. I feel like I can study,” he said. “But it still feels wrong to go back to routine. We have soldiers still [in Gaza]. I have friends still there.”

Meanwhile, at the University of Haifa, undergraduate student Sagy Amar said his professors were “very understanding of the situation” when he returned from the reserves.

“When I came back to school, I had a meeting with the head of my department for an hour, and she asked me what they can do to help me,” said Amar, who just completed his second year, and studies political science and Jewish history. “They offered extra time to turn in my work and an option to do take-home exams. This was an option extended not only to me but also to hostage families, families of fallen soldiers, and significant others of soldiers in reserves. I also got a scholarship and some school credits that absolved me of taking some classes. They really tried to make sure no student was left behind.”

The scholarship noted by Amar reflects the University of Haifa’s efforts to step up for student-soldiers in their time of need, mirroring the initiatives implemented by Afeka. During the war, the university at one point had as many as 1,150 students and 50 faculty members in the reserves, including 300 students in the security forces. The University of Haifa responded by launching its Scholarship Fund for Reserve Soldiers, which provides emergency scholarships of NIS 2,000 ($500) to each student-soldier at the school. 

Additionally, academic infrastructure that was in place long before the war is now more relevant than ever for the university. In 2018, the University of Haifa was awarded the first-ever tender to be established by Israel’s Ministry of Defense. The university has since granted academic degrees to IDF officers in all three military colleges – the Tactical Command College, the Command and Staff College, and the National Defense College. These studies bring hundreds of officers, commanders, and senior figures in the public sector to the institution. On a national level, this enables consistency in the long-term academic qualifications of IDF commanders and improves the academic education that they acquire in parallel with military courses.

When the tender was awarded, University of Haifa President Prof. Ron Robin had said the university is “proud to open our doors to the members of the Israel Defense Forces and to be the academic home of Israel’s defense and security forces. These men and women, who are dear to our hearts, operate day and night for the sake of the defense and security of the State of Israel, and we will provide them educational content of the highest standard.”

Memories of October 7

Even as they look ahead to their academic future, the student-reservists still have memories of October 7 at the forefront of their minds, particularly when it comes to the abrupt shift from civilian to military life.

The University of Haifa’s Amar was on vacation with his then-fiancée’s family in Eilat. 

“I keep Shabbat, but it became clear after [synagogue] services that something was happening,” he recalled. “I immediately called my commander to ask for instructions. I then went down to the hotel lobby and asked if anybody was driving up north. I then hitchhiked to my car and drove to my base.”

He added, “I was in the middle of a vacation and then suddenly, I found myself saying goodbye to my fiancée and not knowing if or when I’d see her again. It was a vacation that ended with tears and fear.”

On October 7, Afeka’s Chen was with his parents in Tzoran, a small town next to Netanya. He didn’t hear any sirens and “was completely unaware of what was happening” when he woke up that morning.

“I opened my phone, saw messages and saw the news, and began to understand what was coming,” he recounted. “A few hours later, my officer called me and said, ‘Get ready.’ I packed up my things and called up some guys from my unit. My dad drove me to Netanya. I was supposed to get a ride there to the base. I found myself in a dirty camp up north.”

Nofar Shlosberg, on the other hand, wasn’t called to reserve duty until a month after October 7. She was based in the North, where she was part of the Air Force for five months. She had two roles — as a trainer of Air Force commanders, and head of a logistics team. Since her base didn’t have room to accommodate all the reservists who were called up, she had to undertake a three-hour round-trip commute each day.

“Naturally, it was hard to have a life during this time,” Shlosberg said. “Often, I couldn’t show up to class, even the ones that were held in the evening. Being a reservist was like a full-time job, sometimes even more demanding, as I often didn’t have a predictable 9-5 schedule. There were days that all I wanted to do was sleep.”

She reported that Afeka was understanding and accommodating, given the challenging, delicate balancing act of her journey as a student-reservist.

“They offered Zoom classes, but I couldn’t attend some of those either because there were areas in the base where I wasn’t allowed to bring my computer,” she explained. “Yet, I still studied as much as I could. I told my professors my situation, and they were very understanding. Some professors even gave me one-on-one tutoring so I could catch up.”

The road ahead

Moving forward, the University of Haifa has announced that it will offer streamlined admissions and extra financial aid for IDF reserve soldiers, security personnel, and civilians directly affected by the Israel-Hamas war. The special admissions route is a unique, first-of-its-kind track for students starting the next academic year. It will include fast-track acceptance to certain programs without the usual requirement of psychometric testing, and will also include a scholarship of $2,000 for qualified students.

“This is our opportunity at the University of Haifa to thank the men and women of the reserve forces, who left everything and went out to defend the country,” said Prof. Robin. “Let us now join them and guarantee a way that will enable them to enter the university in the smoothest way possible.”

Afeka, meanwhile, is focused on securing the financial resources that will enable the college to maintain its comprehensive student support package as the war continues. For this purpose, the college recently launched the AsOne campaign, whose initial goal is to raise NIS 15 million ($4 million). The college has committed NIS 5 million ($1.35 million) from internal resources to the student support initiative, and it is now seeking external donations to fund various initiatives under the AsOne campaign.

The goal of the student support fund, according to the college, is to keep every student on a path toward filling a vital role in Israel’s engineering industry and contributing to the Jewish state’s crucial hi-tech sector – especially with the field of engineering taking on unprecedented importance for the country following the October 7 attacks.

“I look at you and see the future — the future of the hi-tech industry, the future of the Israeli economy, the future of society, the future of the country,” Prof. Moyal told the graduating class during the recent ceremony. “For us, you represent a significant part of the ‘victory picture’ for this country. I am filled with pride for each and every one of you.”■