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The Brain Gain: An Upside To The Economic Crisis
By Moshe Kaveh, President of Bar-Ilan University
Published in The New York Jewish Week

More than 100 high-ranking Israeli scholars and scientists have returned to Israel from abroad since the start of the present academic year and have found employment suited to their skills. They did this within the framework of a joint campaign that emanated from the Israeli government and the universities — a campaign with a budget allocated expressly for the purpose of re-absorbing the academics. Some of them had been living and working outside Israel for four to six years; others had devoted their energies to prestigious foreign institutions over periods of 10 to 25 years. The disciplines represented by the returnees span the entire spectrum, from nanotechnology and biotechnology to history and law. Their absence has been felt here, and it is gratifying to see them at home once again. However, we must be careful not to take this recent development for granted; it should be regarded as merely the first stage of something whose continuation needs to be ensured.

Nor should the current campaign be viewed as a phenomenon unrelated to current circumstances, or as the first of its kind. Surely the returnees are sincere in their desire to live and raise their children in a sovereign Jewish state. Yet their arrival is taking place against the background of a global economic crisis, and a simultaneous cutback in budgets and in basic and applied research posts overseas. Although one must not overstate the similarity between the two situations, a process of this kind did occur during the 1930s, when the Jewish Yishuv in Eretz Israel absorbed many academics from central Europe who had been forced to flee the troubles abroad. A combination of necessity and Zionist motivation yielded an outstanding contribution to the foundations of Israeli research and development — foundations on which our entire education system still rests.

Then as now, considerable criticism was expressed. Then as now, some felt that those coming from abroad were making an already difficult local situation harder. Then as now, we were making the most of an opportunity. New immigrants and returnees bring us not only themselves and their families, but also tremendous potential for growth. The contribution that these recent arrivals will be making within the academic sphere and within the knowledge-intensive sectors of our economy will lead to achievements beneficial to Israeli society as a whole.

These things need to be remembered and emphasized at the present juncture in particular, when one Israeli government is ending its term and another is waiting to take the reins; when economists, politicians and commentators warn that belts will have to be tightened and budgets cut, and when they mention the education budget alongside the security budget as a target for these cuts.

It is, of course, essential that we improve the efficiency of our public sector, education system included. But we must not forget the budget cuts that the system has already suffered over the last three decades, or the urgent needs foreseeable for the coming decade. To cite one example: since 1973 Israel’s population has doubled, but the number of university faculty positions has declined by 20 percent. Another example: by 2019 some 2,500 lecturers and senior instructors are expected to retire. Merely replacing them will entail hiring 250 new faculty members a year, a much higher number than that of the academics who returned this year from abroad.

In order to prepare ourselves adequately, we will also need to emerge from the current economic crisis. Israel will be able to meet these challenges only if it is able to cultivate and develop its own relative advantages, most of which lie in its brain power. These relative advantages, in all areas, are rooted in the knowledge that our institutions of higher education have created, amassed and made available, whether on their own or via initiatives and companies founded by their graduates. What remains, therefore, is to translate this understanding into operative policy. We must see the 104 scholars who returned to us this year as the first link in a chain to be continually lengthened. This is yet another of the tests and challenges that await Israel’s incoming government.

It is also a challenge faced by Jewish world leadership — a leadership that has always mobilized to strengthen and fortify the State of Israel. Those interested in improving matters in Israel will necessarily be moved to assist financially in the effort to effect an Israeli “brain gain.” This could be a major goal on the world Jewish leadership’s agenda during the State of Israel’s seventh decade of existence.