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March 15, 2026 Dear Governors and Friends in Israel and around the world, Israel has now been at war with Iran for two weeks, and with Hezbollah for about ten days. While there are signs that the war with Iran may end within a few weeks, it appears that the war with Hezbollah may go on for longer. Despite years of Israeli military pressure, Hezbollah still retains the capability to launch hundreds of rockets daily, with much shorter warning times than Iranian missiles, often leaving only about a minute and a half to reach shelter in central Israel. Our university is still operating at partial capacity. Technically, we have been in the midst of the semester break. Students were scheduled to return to campus today, but we have postponed the start of the semester until after Passover. Thousands of Tel Aviv University students have been called up for reserve duty and we are committed to doing everything we can to ease their burden. Regrettably, we are all too familiar with challenges of this kind. After October 7, we launched an emergency campaign. Thanks to your generosity, we provided vital support to our reservists, helping them recover and continue their studies. We are now renewing this initiative so we can once again support them — psychologically, financially, and, when they return to campus, also academically. In the past few days, I have visited laboratories on campus that continue to operate despite immense challenges of the war, in the faculties of Exact Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Life Sciences, and in the School of Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences. It is difficult for me to convey how much I enjoyed these visits, and how much inspiration and strength I drew from meeting our outstanding researchers and their students working in the labs. The work they are doing is immensely important: their contribution to the State of Israel and, more broadly, to humanity, is immeasurable. I was also moved to meet international doctoral and postdoctoral fellows there, many of whom are not Jewish and have been in Israel for quite some time. Not for a moment are they considering stepping away from their research here. The main challenges facing the University are still ahead of us, and they are not simple. First and foremost is bringing Israeli doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows back to Israel after they finish their training abroad. This will be the central imperative of Israeli academia, including Tel Aviv University, in the months and years to come. For now, we are succeeding, but it is not easy. A few days ago I spoke with an outstanding life sciences researcher who completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Berkeley and has decided to return to Israel despite the many temptations to remain there. She told me that there is no better place than Israel to raise your children. She is right; and yet I almost cried when she said it. I know you are with us, always. Thank you for your unwavering support which allows us to stand strong together — for Tel Aviv University and for Israel. Warmly yours,
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