Government Approves NIS 100 Million Plan to Strengthen Jewish Education in North America

Israel's government on Wednesday, 11 November, approved the principles of a national plan to strengthen Jewish education in the Jewish communities of North America, backed by NIS 100 million in state funding. The Prime Minister's Office drew up the plan with representatives of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), and it is an initiative of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Under the plan, the federations and other non-governmental bodies are to raise matching funds covering at least 50% of its cost. It will focus on raising the number of pupils enrolled in Jewish educational frameworks, which the Prime Minister's Office called central to the communities' continuity and to their ties with Israel. The office said Israel and Diaspora communities share responsibility for the Jewish people's future, citing the ongoing erosion of formal Jewish education abroad and the rise in antisemitism worldwide since Hamas's attack of 7 October 2023. "The plan we approved today, in partnership with the Jewish communities of North America, is an investment in the next generation of Diaspora Jews," Netanyahu said. Wednesday's approval follows a government decision of 28 June 2026, when ministers unanimously adopted a proposal by Netanyahu and Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli to launch a national plan for Jewish education in Diaspora communities, with an emphasis on North America. The government said then that about 1.8 million school-aged Jewish children live in the United States, only a small fraction of whom attend Jewish schools, and that the plan would address barriers such as tuition costs, distance and support for pupils with learning disabilities. It put the total investment at an expected NIS 200 million. JFNA board chairman Gary Torgow and president Eric Fingerhut, invited to that cabinet meeting, welcomed the decision.