<div class="masa-blog-title">Report released on policies regarding study abroad in Israel | Weekly Roundup </div>

A collection of updates covering the intersection of Israel programs, the Jewish world, and international education.

•  The Israel on Campus Coalition’s Study Abroad in Israel Task Force released a report with the results of their research on 150 universities and their study abroad in Israel policies. Researchers looked at whether Israel is listed under approved programs, if financial aid is transferable and if a waiver or petition is needed.

•  Natan Sharansky and the Jewish Agency plan to increase support for Jewish identity-building programs like Taglit-Birthright Israel and Masa Israel.

• Coexistence In Action: Repair the World, a Jewish service learning organization, interviewed Tamar Alon of the Arab-Jewish Community Center for its website. Tamar spoke about working with volunteers from the Tikkun Olam Tel Aviv-Jaffa Masa Israel program, who took on responsibilities for the center’s after school club and used their own experiences to start special classes on topics ranging from chess and hip-hop dance to science.

•  Peter Beinart’s recent essay in the New York Review of Books has sparked a heated debate about American Jews and their support of Israel. Sociologist and professor of Jewish social policy Steven Cohen in Foreign Policy magazine, and Theodore Sasson and Leonard Saxe in Tablet Magazine, point out that Beinart failed to take in to account the impact of Birthright and Masa Israel programs on young adults’ identification with Israel.