Advocating for Israel on the quad


Two Connecticut campuses among those hosting Israel Fellows 


By Cindy Mindell

Algom Ben-Horin

In 2003, in the midst of the second intifada, a strategic partnership was being crafted by The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. The new initiative, Jewish Agency Israel Fellows to Hillel, or Israel Campus Fellows, was designed to strengthen the standing of Israel on university campuses throughout North America.

A component of JAFI’s Young Shlichut (emissary) Program, and part of its education department, the initiative is headed by Ronen Weiss, JAFI’s emissary to Hillel at Hillel’s Schusterman International Center in

Washington, D.C.

The program was piloted with six shlichim, or emissaries, in 2003. Today, 56 young Israelis serve on 70 North American college campuses – two of which are in Connecticut. Over the next four years, Hillel and JAFI intend to increase the number of involved campuses to 100.

In describing the importance of the program, JAFI chair Natan Sharansky wrote, “The heart of the debate on college campuses in North America is increasingly not between left and right – whether or not certain policies are acceptable, certain negotiating positions legitimate, or certain concessions justified.  The debate on North American campuses is about the very legitimacy of Israel – whether the Jewish state has the very right to exist, and whether Israel is something to which Jewish young people ought to be connected.  When respected institutions of higher learning play host to radical gatherings aimed at undermining Israel’s existence and when Jewish students find themselves swimming in a sea of falsehoods and disinformation, many are left wondering whether Israel is a place with which they wish to have a relationship or perhaps it is better—and certainly easier—for them to disconnect.”

The Fellows work to engage students – both Jewish and non-Jewish – with Jewish identity and with Israel. They bring programming to campus, recruit participants for Israel experiences like Talit-Birthright Israel and MASA, and work with student leadership and organizations to proactively create a stronger Israel presence on campus.

Fellows have completed both their Israeli military service and undergraduate education, and have experience with campus life and other educational settings. The emissaries are hired for a two-year stint, with a reciprocal review at the end of the first year to ensure the best match for both sides.

Connecticut is host to two Israel Fellows – Amir Sagron at Yale Hillel and Algom Ben-Horin at UConn Hillel.

A Beer-Sheva native, Sagron grew up in Rehovot and served in the Israeli army as a manpower officer in the Israeli Defense Forces Induction Center, and later as team commander and operations officer at the IDF Officers School, training officers from many religions and levels of Jewish observance.  He is a lieutenant in the IDF reserves.

While pursuing a BA in political science and international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sagron facilitated workshops at Gesher, an organization that works to bridge gaps between various segments of Israeli society, and at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. He also worked as a tour guide at the Western Wall. Last year, he was an intern at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, analyzing the “Arab Spring.”

“In the army and during my studies, I was always fascinated with Judaism and Jewish peoplehood,” Sagron says. “The natural next step was a shlichut through the Jewish Agency.” After a month-long interview process, Sagron was accepted to the program and offered the position at Yale. After five months of training, the Israel Campus Fellows had an orientation at the Hillel Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, before dispersing to their respective campuses at the end of August.

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