Operation “Roaring Lion”- Update from the President

Dear Members of the Board of Governors, Friends of the University in Israel and around the world,

We are on the third day of the war against Iran. Today Hezbollah forces joined the campaign and they too fired missiles at Israel.

For two and a half years now, we have been living in a state of continuous war, confronting enemies on our southern, northern, and eastern borders. It began with the terrible disaster of October 7 and became the longest war in Israel’s history. I was born in the midst of the Sinai War of 1956 (which is also the year our university was founded). This is not my first war, and likely not my last. In times of struggle, the resilience of Israeli society becomes especially clear: the mutual solidarity, the care for one another. Every person killed is a loss we all share: a collective pain, a grief felt for the loss of a family member.

I was supposed to fly to New York tomorrow to meet with friends of the University. I am glad I did not get stranded in New York while the war was unfolding here. That’s what happened to me in the previous round of fighting with Iran: because all flights to Israel were canceled, it took me a week to return home. I cannot describe how difficult that week was. Recently someone said, half-jokingly, that Israelis are more afraid of being “stuck” abroad during a war than of the Iranian missiles. That’s very true. It is no coincidence that, at this very moment, the university is working through the Lowy International School to help members of our community who are stranded abroad to make their way back home.

Over the past three days, my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my colleagues at the University, and I have had to take shelter some twenty times. On several occasions, I took shelter on campus. Some of you have experienced this during your visits to Israel. It is a strange feeling: to sit in a shelter and hope the missiles will be intercepted, while knowing the system is not foolproof; to sit and hope that if a missile falls nearby (carrying half a ton of explosives!), it will spare your family, you, the university, everyone. From inside the shelter you can usually hear the “booms” of the interceptions or of missiles hitting the ground (and you remember with pride that some of our alumni developed the missile defense systems). Immediately afterward, you send WhatsApp messages to make sure your loved ones and friends are safe. You always begin with your children. This has become the routine of war that we have learned to cope with, the routine of a people determined to go on living here, permanently, despite the wars that return again and again.

And what is happening at the University? It is operating in emergency mode. We are currently in the break between semesters. We hope to open the semester in about two weeks, whether in person or remotely. Although our researchers very much want to return to their laboratories, Home Front Command regulations currently prohibit this. I hope that within a few days we will be able to return to some kind of routine, even if the war does continue for several more weeks.

Many of our students and faculty members have been called up for reserve duty. Some members of our campus community have suffered property damage from the Iranian missiles. We are supporting them and will continue to do so, as we have until now. You have helped us to do so in the past, when we established the emergency fund that made such a big difference.

In this period, the importance of Israeli academia – and of Tel Aviv University in particular – to the country’s resilience is unmistakable: to its economic strength, its social cohesion, and its security. Without strong academia we would not have endured the difficult periods we have faced over the years. This is something we must not forget when the war is over.

In times of crisis, the bonds between the people of Israel and Jewish communities around the world grow stronger. At such times, it is clear to us that we cannot do without you, and I am sure that you feel something similar toward us. I am very proud to stand at the head of our wonderful university, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support over the years.

Warmly yours,

Professor Ariel Porat
President
Tel Aviv University