Photo: courtesy of Tel Aviv University

Israel’s Tel Aviv University announced Thursday that it will be offering dozens of scholarships to Ukrainian students and researchers whose studies have been disrupted due to the ongoing Russian invasion.

The scholarships amounting to a total of 1 million shekels will be allocated to Ukrainian academics who will spend the coming semester at the Tel Aviv University. The scholarships will cover both tuition and living expenses in Israel.

“This will enable students and researchers from different disciplines to continue their academic studies and research, which have been halted by the war,” Tel Aviv University said in a statement. “TAU will soon contact the embassies in both Israel and Ukraine, as well as their academic colleagues, to facilitate the researchers’ arrival in Israel within the next few days.”

Israel’s biggest university said the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a “red flag” that called for making every effort to help the Ukrainian people, many of whom have become homeless refugees overnight.

“As a university that raises the banner of academic freedom, we place great importance on providing our Ukrainian colleagues with immediate assistance,” the university stated.

The initiative comes as the war in Ukraine enters its eighth day with no end in sight, and with many thousands of Jews among those who have become refugees. Israel expects to absorb a wave of as many as 10,000 new immigrants from the war-torn country, according to estimates by the Jewish Agency. An initial group of 300 Jewish olim — the Hebrew term for immigrants to Israel — is set to arrive in Israel on Sunday via three flights from Warsaw, Moldova and Romania, according to the Jewish Agency.

Over the weekend, Israeli foreign ministry officials assisted 100 Israeli students, among them Jews and Arabs, to cross the border into Moldova from Ukraine.

“The steps we are taking are admittedly modest,” said Tel Aviv University President Prof. Ariel Porat. “However, we hope that other academic institutions, both in Israel and worldwide, will follow our example, and lend a helping hand to the Ukrainian people in this dire situation.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett this week met with Masa Israel Journey students from Ukraine who arrived in Israel in recent months.

“First and foremost, I want to tell you that you have a home here. Israel is your home, for you and your families, for any Jew in the world. Always. Now and always,” Bennett told the students. “That’s what Israel was established for to begin with.”