This morning in Jerusalem, we were honored and moved to participate in a meeting of the Cabinet of the Government of Israel, chaired by the Prime Minister. In this meeting, the Cabinet Ministers considered and adopted a resolution establishing Jewish education as a shared priority between the government of Israel and our leadership in North America. We are proud that the Jewish Federations of North America played an important role in the development of this resolution and will play a leading role in its implementation.
 

We are especially moved by the commitment of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his professional team, who all worked hard to bring us to this point. This project began with deep conversations between the Prime Minister and the Jewish Federations of North America through our chair, Gary Torgow, and has continued to blossom through the challenging times of war and rising antisemitism. Despite all the other priorities facing the government and our community, neither side ever wavered in understanding that strengthening Jewish identity through Jewish education is the key to a vibrant Jewish future.

Federations have, of course, supported the Jewish day schools in their communities for years. In recent years, many Federations, in partnership with extraordinary donors, have helped to grow and increase support for these schools. Together with these existing initiatives, the surge in engagement in Jewish life that we have documented since October 7, 2023, the new federal education tax credit in the United States that takes effect in 2027, and now this new commitment from our brothers and sisters in Israel, we have a historic opportunity to make an excellent Jewish education available and affordable to all.

There are many more details to be determined, and much hard work ahead of us. We look forward to sharing with you more about this project as it develops.