More than 200 Jewish thought leaders converged on Limassol, Cyprus on Tuesday for the third annual International Yael Foundation Conference. The Feb. 3-5 event, titled “Education and Beyond,” brings together attendees from 37 countries to discuss advancing Jewish education and addressing its most pressing challenges, especially in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
“The Yael Foundation was founded with an important mission: to ensure that no Jewish child, regardless of location, would ever have to compromise on receiving both an excellent education and enriching Jewish experiences,” said the organization’s co-founders, Uri and Yael Poliavich.
“May the days ahead be filled with meaningful interaction, innovative ideas and impactful partnerships. Together, we can transform challenges into opportunities and pave the way for a brighter Jewish future,” they added.
On Tuesday, Uri Poliavich announced that the Yael Foundation’s annual budget is being raised from 25 to 40 million euros, in large part in response to the rise in antisemitism over the past year.
“Over the last 15 months since the massacre on Oct. 7, our enemies have physically targeted the Jewish state on seven fronts,” said Poliavich. “In tandem with those attacks on Israel, our enemies have relentlessly targeted the global Jewish community with unprecedented antisemitism. This assault directly targets Jews and Jewish heritage, resulting in large numbers of Jews who have been forced to hide and disengage from their identity and traditions,” he continued.
“The antidote to this is more Jewish education,” he said. “This has made our core mission of assuring that no Jewish child is left behind absolutely paramount. We cannot let them down.”
The foundation is currently working in more than three dozen countries and impacting 13,000 Jewish students. It provides grants to 55 day schools, 18 Sunday schools, 10 kindergartens and 17 after-school educational programs.
“We hope to provide the heads of the schools and communities we work with all year round with tools to overcome the challenges they’re facing, and the strength to create more of a network among them,” Yael Foundation CEO Chaya Yosovich told JNS.
“We want to be there for them, so they don’t lose opportunities because there’s no one to help,” she added.
On Tuesday, Iris Haim, whose son Yotam was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, and accidentally killed by Israel Defense Forces troops in Gaza while trying to escape two months later, shared her journey of hope, unity and resilience with conference attendees.
“I will speak in my lecture about the real change I made in my life after Oct. 7, about understanding that I am Jewish. Before Oct. 7, I was more Israeli than Jewish,” Haim told JNS on Monday.
“I understand now that when Hamas came to Israel, they came to attack Jews. They came because we are Jewish and want to live in Israel. Being Jewish and Israeli go together. Despite our differences, we are all Jews,” she added.

The conference’s lectures feature a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from “Marketing innovation in education: Practical tools for school leaders to increase value and impact,” to “Leadership lessons from the basketball court,” from “To dream like Joseph: Proactive entrepreneurship,” to “Where neuroscience meets God: Research on cultivating spirituality in children and adolescents.”
A series of TED talks will be given by school principals under the banner, “The key to the future: Inspiring ideas for the challenges of the education system.”
Another session will feature IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency, who will discuss his military career, including the loss of his brother in war, as well as raising his son, Eran, who was born with severe brain damage. Today, Almog is devoting his professional career to helping rebuild the State of Israel post-Oct. 7.
“With respect to the huge rise in antisemitism, it’s not just about fighting Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, standing tall and strengthening the State of Israel, but also strengthening the Jewish communities across the world,” Almog told JNS ahead of his lecture, titled “The greatest teacher of my life”.
“The Yael conference is about strengthening the small communities in Europe. After World War II, we had 3 million Jews in Europe; 6 million had been killed [by the Nazis]. As of February 2025, we have about 1.5 million Jews in Europe,” he continued.
“We need to guarantee that our communities continue Jewish education, Jewish identity, strengthening the bond between Jewish communities in Europe and the State of Israel and encouraging them to promote our values of mutual responsibility,” he added.
Other notable participants include Amichai Chikli, Israeli minister for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, and Michal Cotler-Wunsh, a former Israeli lawmaker currently serving as the Jewish state’s antisemitism envoy.

On Wednesday, attendees will gather to discuss “The 8th front: Antisemitism as a manifestation of an existential war,” with experts analyzing the mutation of Jew-hatred that fueled the Oct. 7 atrocities and outlining possible responses to the worst one-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The goal is to equip people with tools to identify the “world’s oldest hatred” and then confront it across the spaces where it has become mainstream.
Also Wednesday, attendees will be given a tour of the foundation’s flagship project, the construction of a new school in Limassol, at the cost of €50 million ($55.9 million), which aims to provide access to Jewish learning and ensure the highest standards of education. The project, expected to be completed in 2027 and designed by ADP Architects, a firm that has built schools across Europe, is being headed by principal Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler.
As the summit began, the foundation’s founders invoked the words of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: “The Jewish child is the child of the future. The future will be built through the knowledge and spirit that are imparted to him today.”