UC Programs in Israel Are Suspended; Students to Return

Citing escalating violence in the Middle East, the University of California said Tuesday that it is suspending its academic program in Israel and encouraging students still there to return home.

University officials said they are arranging travel back to the United States for 27 UC students who have been spending the academic year in Israel. An additional 28 students who started the year there have already left, a spokesman said, and the program will be formally suspended next week.

“The top priority has to be the safety of the students,” said UC spokesman Hanan Eisenman. “In light of the escalating situation, we felt this was the most prudent course of action.”

With the announcement, UC joined other universities, including USC, the University of Colorado and the University of Washington, in placing academic programs in Israel on hold. USC took the action in August, and several other schools did so soon after the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian violence began more than a year ago, officials said.

The latest suspension came as the State Department warned Americans on Tuesday against traveling to Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and said dependents of American diplomats in Jerusalem were being encouraged to return home.

But other study programs in Israel are continuing, despite the risks.

Brandeis University, a Massachusetts school that describes itself as the nation’s only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored college, has no immediate plans to suspend operations in Israel or bring home the seven students now studying there, a spokesman said.

“Obviously, we are concerned about the students’ safety, but for many of these young men and women--especially those who are Jewish--traveling to Israel is an important part of their young adulthood,” said university spokesman Dennis Nealon.

Unless the situation becomes significantly worse, the university will leave decisions to stay or go up to the students and their families, Nealon said.

Other study programs still operating in the country include Birthright Israel, which gives college-age Jews a free, 10-day trip to Israel.

Joe Wagner, a spokesman for the program in Washington, D.C., said Birthright Israel is going ahead with plans to take thousands of young visitors to Israel this spring and summer. Applications for the trips have dropped off slightly in recent months, Wagner said, and the program is monitoring the situation in Israel closely.