ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

The Israeli Scholarship Education Foundation (ISEF) is launching a new crowdfunding campaign for financial aid and scholarships for people in Israel's periphery, following two years of financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Titled "Together we will change a life story," the campaign seeks to raise NIS 1 million that, alongside existing financial resources, will be able to fund 150 new academic scholarships for young people in the geographic periphery and from difficult backgrounds.

This is especially important, as Israelis from the periphery are often at a disadvantage due to their position on the socioeconomic ladder, but education can help them improve their standing.

“Studies report that even today, higher education is still a key factor of success and socioeconomic mobility,” ISEF President Carlos Benaim said in a statement. 
 

“Despite that fact, numerous young people from peripheral Israel and towns with a below-average socioeconomic ranking are underrepresented in academic institutions and don’t get an equal opportunity to pursue higher education. This, in turn, means that the disparities between the different strata of the Israeli society keep growing, and it becomes more polarized and marginalized with time.”

The foundation has helped thousands of people from the periphery such as Prof. Yifat Biton, former coronavirus commissioner Prof. Ronni Gamzu and Yesh Atid MK Merav Ben-Ari.

The crowdfunding campaign is especially needed now, due to two years without a state budget and the COVID-19 pandemic preventing fundraisers from being held.

Benaim added that: “The last year was extremely challenging, and we need the support of anyone sharing our views of providing equal opportunity and minimizing the social disparities in the Israeli society, to help as many young people as possible in getting a higher education.”