For generations, the relationship between Israel and the Jewish diaspora has largely flowed in one direction: diaspora Jews have donated billions of dollars to build, defend and strengthen the State of Israel. Those contributions helped establish hospitals, universities, forests, cultural institutions and countless social programs. They reflected a time when Israel was a young, vulnerable nation with limited economic resources.
That era has passed.
Today, Israel is a prosperous, technologically advanced country with a strong economy, world-class universities and a thriving innovation sector. While Israel continues to face significant security challenges, it is no longer the impoverished state of the 1950s or 1960s. It is time for the relationship between Israel and diaspora communities to evolve accordingly.
One of the most meaningful ways Israel could demonstrate this new partnership would be by helping fund Jewish day schools across the diaspora.
Many countries already recognise that religious education provides a public benefit. Governments in countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom provide substantial funding to faith-based schools, while the Catholic Church invests heavily in maintaining Catholic education around the world. The result is that Catholic families can generally access faith-based education without bearing the full cost themselves.
Jewish communities face a different reality. Jewish schools are among the most expensive forms of education because they combine a full secular curriculum with Hebrew, Jewish studies and often enhanced security requirements. In many Modern Orthodox communities, annual school fees alone can exceed A$30,000—and in some cases A$40,000—per child. For families with three or four children, the cost of providing a Jewish education can exceed $100,000 a year before other living expenses are even considered.
To their credit, many Jewish schools have introduced generous fee assistance and scholarship programs to ensure that families are not priced out of Jewish education. However, these subsidy schemes are placing increasing financial pressure on the schools themselves. As more middle-income families require assistance simply to afford tuition, schools are forced to divert greater resources towards fee relief while continuing to fund high-quality teaching, specialist Jewish studies and ever-increasing security costs. The model is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
This is not merely a local community issue. Jewish education is one of the strongest predictors of lifelong Jewish identity, Hebrew literacy, communal involvement and enduring connections with Israel itself. Graduates of Jewish schools are significantly more likely to visit Israel, advocate for Israel and maintain active Jewish lives. In other words, strong diaspora Jewish schools directly serve Israel’s long-term strategic interests.
If Israel rightly invests billions in strengthening Jewish identity through initiatives such as Birthright and educational exchanges, then supporting the institutions that educate Jewish children from their earliest years deserves equal consideration. Investing in Jewish education at its foundation reinforces everything that follows.
This is not an argument that Israel should replace local philanthropy or government support. Jewish communities will always bear primary responsibility for their own institutions. Rather, Israel should become a genuine partner by establishing a dedicated fund to assist recognised Jewish schools around the world. Even modest per-student grants could significantly reduce tuition costs, relieve pressure on schools and help ensure that Jewish education remains accessible to ordinary families.
Such a policy would also symbolise a profound shift in the relationship between Israel and world Jewry. For decades, the diaspora has been encouraged to support Israel financially because Israel needed that support to survive and prosper. Today, Israel has become one of the world’s great economic success stories. A mature partnership requires reciprocity. Rather than viewing the diaspora primarily as a source of donations, Israel should recognise thriving Jewish communities overseas as strategic assets worthy of investment.
Every child who receives a strong Jewish education strengthens not only their local community but the Jewish people as a whole. Those children become future visitors to Israel, advocates for Israel, Hebrew speakers, community leaders and committed Jews. Supporting diaspora Jewish schools is therefore not an act of charity; it is an investment in Israel’s own future.
The Zionist dream succeeded beyond the expectations of its founders. Israel is no longer simply the recipient of Jewish generosity—it has become one of the Jewish world’s greatest success stories. With that success comes a new responsibility.
The next chapter in the relationship between Israel and the diaspora should not be defined by dependency, but by partnership. The time has come for Israel to invest in the next generation of Jews—not only within its borders, but wherever Jewish children are learning, growing and carrying the future of the Jewish people.
Ber Cowen lives in Melbourne, Australia, and works in Revenue Management across the FMCG and aviation sectors. He holds a Master of Business from Monash University and is a parent of three children in Jewish education.