A follow-up survey conducted by The Israel Young Academy and Afik in Academia on the difficulties facing academic faculty in Israel following the events of October 7, 2023 and the Swords of Iron War revealed a drop of approximately 25% in the number of articles submitted for publication in the year leading up to the survey (2024–2025) compared with the year preceding those events. This is a direct blow to the heart of academic work: the production and dissemination of knowledge.
Alongside this decline in output, the study points to other serious negative impacts, shared by many across the country: About 4.3% of respondents reported that they or their family members were directly affected by the war, 4% were evacuated from their homes, and 11.9% reported that members of their research groups or families were evacuated. Approximately 12.3% of respondents experienced severe negative impact due to reserve duty, manifesting primarily in their daily lives. Men reported a smaller negative impact than women.
The data above paint a picture of a faculty navigating the prolonged, harsh realities of war.
The survey further shows that alongside the decline in output, emigration indicators have worsened since the 2023 survey: An overall increase of approximately 11% in the likelihood of leaving Israel was reported, especially among lower-ranked and non-tenured faculty, and the share of respondents who rated their likelihood of leaving above 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 increased even more markedly, from 32.9% to 45.3%. In addition, a notable increase was recorded in concrete steps toward emigration, such as obtaining a foreign passport (rising from 11.5% in the 2023 survey to 18.4% in the current one).
The new report presents the findings of a survey conducted in May 2025, in the weeks preceding the first intensive campaign against Iran, and examines the effects of the Swords of Iron War on academic faculty in Israel, especially on senior academic faculty. A total of 739 faculty members participated in the current survey, and the respondent population was largely similar to that of the previous survey, conducted at the start of the war (December 2023).
Respondents also reported:
- Academic impact: The most severe negative impacts reported concerned colleagues from abroad avoiding visits to Israel, difficulty recruiting international students, decline in time invested in research, and diminished research quality. A significant worsening was also reported in objectivity in peer review and in receiving recommendations from international faculty for promotion purposes.
- Impact on overall quality of life and daily functioning: Faculty members continue to report a severe negative impact on their emotional well-being and daily life as a result of the war, with a significant increase in reports of economic impact, particularly among early-career and non-tenured faculty.
- Erosion of international connections and damage to the academic climate: The survey points to a significant worsening in respondents' sense of peer review objectivity, their prospects of receiving recommendations from international faculty for promotion purposes, and their ability to recruit international students. Respondents also reported that colleagues from abroad were avoiding visits to Israel. These findings reflect a negative impact on the international standing of Israeli academia and on its scientific reach. International ties are a basic condition for high-quality research, collaboration, resource mobilization, and the maintenance of scientific excellence over time.
- Concerns about the future: A high correlation was found between concerns reported in the 2023 survey and actual impacts reported in 2025. Looking ahead, respondents' primary concerns relate to continued damage to international connections: fewer visits by colleagues from abroad, difficulty recruiting students from abroad, difficulties in submitting research proposals to international funding bodies and in receiving recommendations from international faculty for promotion purposes, and impaired objectivity in peer review.
The survey findings indicate ongoing and deepening erosion in the personal and professional circumstances of academic faculty members in Israel, alongside increased risk of brain drain. The report underscores an urgent need for systemic and targeted policy measures, with emphasis on supporting early-career researchers, strengthening international networks, and restoring working and research conditions in Israeli academia.
At the same time, the survey findings do not necessarily point to an erosion in the sense of belonging. Another study conducted by The Israel Young Academy in May 2025 interviewed 40 leading researchers in Israeli academia, and presented a clear picture of academia's deep commitment to Israel: 93% of interviewees said that their strong connection to Israel, rooted in Zionist, ideological, cultural, and social ties, was the main reason they remain in the country and in Israeli academia. In other words, most researchers in Israeli academia have a deep sense of belonging and commitment even as they cope with sustained erosion and an ongoing sense of negative impacts on both their professional and personal lives.