Emergency Campaign for Students

Israel is cautiously returning to normalcy after a devastating 12 days of war. In the wake of the immediate crisis, the full scale of the war’s harm on our community is becoming clear and Tel Aviv University is calling upon our global friends to support our students, faculty and staff in their recovery. The needs are not diminishing; they are only growing. 

Tel Aviv University is providing students with housing assistance, financial aid, mental health care, and academic accommodations, making a profound difference in the lives of our students.

Please donate generously via your TAU Friends Associations in Canada, US, UK, Australia, Israel or through the Israeli Alumni Organization. 

Watch Dean of Students Prof. Drorit Neumann describe TAU’s relief efforts:

An overview of the need

• The number of students and staff who evacuated their damaged homes rose from 100 to 175; more reports are coming in.
• About 100 dorm apartments at TAU suffered blast wave damage and 40 students had to be moved to alternative housing
• In a survey of 2,800 students, about 80% rated their mental well-being at 5 or below on a scale of 0 to 10 (with 0 being extremely poor)
• 2,000-3,000 TAU students are on reserve duty, including in Gaza
• More and more calls are coming in from students experiencing psychological, academic and financial difficulties, but the full extent of their distress is yet to be known.

Students share their personal hardships

• Ravid, a 3rd year student, experienced a direct missile hit on her home in Petah Tikva, destroying it. She and her family of five miraculously survived. The five of them are now living together in one hotel room, which gives her no privacy or emotional capacity for learning. Rebuilding their apartment will take about a year.

• The home of Liel, a medical student, was severely damaged by a missile strike and is no longer livable. This tragedy happened one day after his second daughter was born. He and his wife urgently need a temporary apartment as well as equipment and clothing for the girls.

• Ori, an MA student in cultural studies, had his life completely disrupted by blast wave damage to his apartment. He now needs to pack up his destroyed home and find a new place to live. All this comes just before the exam and submission period begins, and he doesn’t even have a desk to work at.

• Nessya, a psychology student in Tel Aviv University’s joint BA program with Columbia University, and her single mom suffered severe damage to their apartment during a missile attack and were evacuated to a hotel. TAU is on the case with assistance! Watch her video

• Guy, a third-year biomedical engineering student who lives in the dorms, has been crammed into his parents’ place with 8 other family members – trying to finish his degree in a crisis situation. He is grateful for all the academic help he received from TAU when he served on IDF reserve duty before and missed studies…but is now being called up yet again.

• Orel, 27 years old and also an engineering student, finds studying via Zoom with 24/7 missile alerts very stressful. Moreover, both her boyfriend and brother are serving in the army and Orel is helping care for her one-year old niece. Orel herself is likely to be called up for reserve duty soon. “I’m doing my best to keep up,” she says, remaining proud and hopeful for Israel.

The generosity of our global Friends will ensure that Tel Aviv University can continue to stand by its students during this difficult time and help them move forward with their studies, lives and careers.

DONATE: Contact your country's TAU Friends Association at this link or the TAU Development & Public Affairs Division: +972-3-6408226. nettazivav@tauex.tau.ac.il