TEL AVIV, Israel — Eighty college students from around the world completed the 2026 Birthright Israel Excel Fellowship this week, concluding a nine-week program designed to develop emerging leaders in business, technology and Jewish communal life.
The international fellows participated alongside 80 young Israelis, creating a network of 160 participants connected through professional development, leadership programming and engagement with Israel.
According to Birthright Israel, 50 of the international fellows came from the United States and 30 came from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom. Some were visiting Israel for the first time.
Participants spent the summer working in internships across Israel’s business and technology sectors. Their placements covered finance, consulting, engineering, venture capital, software development, cybersecurity, biotechnology and business development.
The program also sought to expose participants to Israel beyond their workplaces, connecting them with Israeli society, the country’s innovation sector and other young Jewish leaders.
“Birthright Israel is thrilled to welcome the 2026 cohort of Birthright Israel Excel: 80 outstanding students selected from thousands of applicants at leading universities around the world, alongside 80 exceptional young Israelis,” said Gidi Mark, international CEO of Birthright Israel.
Mark described the fellowship as an investment not only in participants’ professional careers but in the future leadership of Jewish communities.
“Birthright Israel Excel is more than an internship program. It is an investment in the future of Jewish leadership,” Mark said. “The Jewish world needs talented emerging leaders to carry it into the future.”
Building Professional Ties With Israel
Birthright Israel Excel was established in 2011 and selects students from a competitive international applicant pool for summer internships with companies in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel’s business ecosystem.
The fellowship is intended to build long-term professional relationships between young Jewish leaders abroad and their Israeli counterparts.
During this year’s program, participants spent nine weeks experiencing Israel through its economy, innovation sector and people while developing relationships with fellow participants, entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Those connections are designed to continue after the formal program ends.
Graduates enter the Birthright Israel Excel alumni network, which provides opportunities for professional and personal development, Israel engagement, Jewish leadership and philanthropy.
According to the organization, former Excel fellows have gone on to work at major international companies including J.P. Morgan Chase, Bain & Company and Google. Other alumni have founded companies or developed partnerships with Israeli businesses, sometimes recruiting fellow program graduates.
Preparing Students for Campus Challenges
The 2026 program also emphasized preparing participants for the challenges they may encounter when they return to universities outside Israel.
Idit Rubin, executive director of Birthright Israel Excel, said one of this year’s priorities was helping students develop the knowledge and support systems needed to confront hostile campus environments.
“One of the pillars of the program this year was preparing community members for the hostile environment they might face on campuses, by giving them tools to better deal with the challenges they encounter there, along with a supportive network,” Rubin said.
Jewish and pro-Israel students at universities in several countries have faced heightened tensions surrounding Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and the war that followed. For participants returning to those campuses, organizers said the relationships developed during the fellowship are intended to provide an ongoing professional and Jewish support network.
Rubin said the program views professional relationships as one way of strengthening the connection between Israel and Jewish communities abroad.
“We genuinely believe that by strengthening ties in the business world and through professional connections, we’re also strengthening Israel and the Jewish communities around the world,” she said. “We look forward to continuing these relationships and developing them.”
A Network Designed to Continue Beyond Israel
Unlike a summer internship that ends when participants return home, Birthright Israel Excel is structured around maintaining an international alumni community.
The organization encourages fellows to remain connected professionally, engage with Israel, take leadership roles in their Jewish communities and eventually support Jewish and Israeli initiatives through philanthropy.
For the 2026 cohort, completing the nine-week fellowship marks the beginning of the program’s alumni phase.
Mark said the objective is to create a generation of professionals whose connections with Israel and with one another continue as their careers develop.
“This program is a strategic lifeline for world Jewry,” he said, “helping ensure our next generation continues to thrive.”
