On the Eve of Israel’s Memorial Day

The eve of Israel Memorial Day for the Fallen is a time to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of those that served and paid the ultimate price. Their dedication to the country is a testament to their courage and bravery. At Reichman University we mourn the nine students that have been murdered and fallen in the Swords of Iron War, and we pray for the safe return of Idan Shtivi, held hostage by Hamas. The day after Memorial Day, we will observe Independence Day. In regular times, it is a joyous celebration. This year, let us focus on the resilience of our country and the valiant young generation of warriors, including so many of our students who lay down on the barbed wire to protect our country.

Independence Day is an opportune moment to answer our adversaries around the world with a resounding vote of confidence in our country. We stand united, resolute, and unwavering in our determination to safeguard the hard-won independence and sovereignty of the State of Israel. The sacrifices made by our Fallen soldiers and the continued vigilance of our brave men and women in uniform have ensured that the flame of freedom burns brightly in our nation.

Read the full article by Jonathan Davis in the Times of Israel here.

30 Years of IDC Now Reichman University

"Sometimes far away, maybe once in your life, you hear an inner voice that says "you" to you. Go and make a mission. A mission that has risks, but it stems from your inner being, from your past, from who you are. The Interdisciplinary Center (now Reichman University) was for such a moment". Exactly 30 years ago, on May 11, 1994, Professor Uriel Reichman laid the foundations for the establishment of a University in the city of Herzliya: a university that will nurture freedom of thought, research, and self-fulfillment. A university that will undergo interdisciplinary training. Cultivate scientific and professional excellence and provide its students with a broad cultural background and a vision for the international horizon (from the proclamation).

Prof. Reichman has set out his main mission: train the country’s future leaders of Israel. These values ​​received practical expressions in campus life - starting with special criteria for accepting candidates with leadership potential, in diverse programs for leadership development, in entrepreneurship education that runs as the second thread in campus activities, and in a world-wide global community that grew around the Raphael Recanati International School thanks to which Reichman University became the leading international academic institution in Israel.

Prof. Uriel Reichman: "The success of the place came first and foremost because the students put their trust in us. The students came here because they saw that we had built an innovative academic institution that pulsates with a spirit of modern pioneering, openness, and humanity. From day one we said that we believe that our graduates came into life with intentions to fulfill their ambitions but in the same breath we told them that a life without commitment and concern for Israeli society and the country, is a meager and meaningless life." Since then our shared journey has continued, along with the wonderful faculty, students, and graduates, who make us immensely proud. The achievements are numerous and unprecedented and the hand is still intact.

May the ability to dream and achieve, to act faithfully to academic values, a commitment to training future leaders, and maintaining the existence and values of Israeli society - shape the path of our university also in the next 30 years.

Pictured L-R: May 1994: Mayor of Herzliya, Eli Landau; Israeli President Ezer Weizmann; Prof. Uriel Reichman; Rabbi Lau 

The Iranian Bazaar and Antisemitism on Campuses

Open Letter from the President of Reichman University to the Members of the Academia

By President Boaz Ganor

Something alarming is unfolding across American college campuses — a pervasive wave of antisemitism and violence has overtaken numerous academic institutions throughout the country. It has manifested in racist chants accompanied by overt calls for violence against Israelis, Zionists and Jews, led by groups of “pro-Palestinian” students and organizations.

The backdrop to these incendiary demonstrations is ostensiblythe war against Hamas in Gaza — a war that was imposed on Israel with the horrific massacre of October 7. That day ,members of the Palestinian terrorist organizations slaughtered hundreds of Israeli civilians — babies, children, women, men, and the elderly — mutilating their bodies, committing brutal sexual assaults, and burning people alive. Hundreds more were abducted and taken into Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza. However, Israel’s military response (which, again, came after one of the most heinous terrorist attacks in human history and certainly the largest and most severe in Israel’s history) is nothing more than a flimsy excuse for the surge of antisemitic incidents on American campuses. The rampant and coordinated incitement we are witnessing is the result of the systematic and deliberate indoctrination by a number of extremist faculty members, as well as by Islamist student movements that have permeated American universities. This has often been backed with funding by Arab states and entities, which in many cases also donate considerable sums of money to the universities themselves. This so-called activism is conducted methodically, under the guise of a noble cause, while abusing the fundamental right to free speech enshrined in the first amendment of the United States constitution.

Read the full article here.

Prof. Boaz Ganor is the president of Reichman University and the founder & former executive director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT).