One of Northwestern’s study abroad programs in Israel is set to resume in 2026 after the University canceled it for 2024 and 2025 following recommendations from NU’s Office of Global Safety and Security.
The Israel Global Engineering Trek is a nearly weeklong study abroad program that provides students with the opportunity to study Israel’s water infrastructure and innovation while visiting historical and archaeological sites there.
The program has been organized by the Israel Innovation Project, a program that connects NU with Israeli academic institutions for collaborative work in STEM fields.
In April, NU’s chapters of Educators for Justice in Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace circulated a resolution calling for the University to end Israeli academic partnerships like the Israel GET.
The NU Graduate Workers union also passed a resolution in October demanding NU end its partnerships with Israeli Universities, including Israel GET.
McCormick sophomores Mark de Souza and John Tirpak both applied to the GET program in March with the intention of going to Chile. The application for the Israel GET and the Chile GET is shared, meaning students filling out one application could be assigned to either country, according to de Souza.
Tirpak said he initially applied to GET to get hands-on experience in engineering systems while traveling abroad.
De Souza and Tirpak were notified of their placement in the Israel GET on April 24. Upon finding out he had been accepted, de Souza said he withdrew from the program almost immediately.
“Because of all the circumstances in Israel, and also what I heard from my friends, I just decided it wasn’t an appropriate time to be going there,” de Souza said.
The U.S. Department of State issued a travel advisory for Israel and the West Bank in November of 2023, advising against travel due to serious safety and security risks, according to University spokesperson Eliza Larson.
“At the same time, Northwestern’s non-medical evacuation provider, Crisis24, added Israel to its existing list of 22 countries considered high-risk,” Larson wrote in a statement to The Daily. “The combination of the two generally exceeds Northwestern’s tolerance for risk for undergraduate travel.”
Upon these recommendations, NU canceled the Israel GET on May 24, Larson added.
The Office of International Relations sent an email to participants informing them that the program was canceled due to the “unpredictable situation” in Israel.
“I was really excited about the opportunity to do something productive and pretty cool. I’d never been to Israel so that would have been an incredible opportunity,” Tirpak said. “I was a little bit disappointed, but to be honest, just given the current state of things in Israel, it probably was the right call.”
Tirpak said he appreciated that the trip had both an engineering and cultural focus.
Because of its location, Israel lacks many natural water resources and often experiences prolonged periods of droughts. Desalination plants and water reclamation provide an abundant supply of water to Israel.
These desalination plants are among the largest in the world, supplying about 80% of Israel’s water consumption. Israel also has one of the world’s highest water reclamation rates at 90%, a metric for wastewater reuse.
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