Programs in Southern Israel

A pre-military academy at Kibbutz Magen in the Eshkol Regional Council (western Negev, near the Gaza border), founded in 2023 by the Israeli Scouts movement (Tzofim) as its newest addition to the mechina landscape. The program is built around Scouting-movement values -- leadership, love of the land, democracy and equality, and social activism -- and presents itself as a deliberately new pre-military track for participants open to 'starting a new journey.'

A hesder yeshiva in the Negev town of Yeruham, founded in 1993, combining advanced Torah study with IDF service.

A pre-military academy for science-oriented high school graduates that combines advanced coursework in fields such as astrophysics and neuroscience with community science outreach and preparation for IDF service.

A coed pre-military mechina on Kibbutz Nitzan on Israel's southern coastal plain, part of the Shahar network. Named in memory of graduate Tomer Barak, who fell in military service on October 7, the half-year program builds resilience and self-efficacy alongside connection to the state, Israeli society, and Jewish identity.

A hesder yeshiva in Kiryat Gat established to disseminate Torah with love among the Jewish people, distinct from the city's other hesder yeshiva (Derech Chaim). Emphasizes divine service with love and joy, love for the Jewish people, passionate Torah study, community responsibility, and character development.

A hesder yeshiva in Sderot combining Talmudic study with Jewish thought (Rav Kook, the Maharal) and national-religious/Zionist ideology, operating dormitory facilities and community outreach projects. Runs a 'Lev LaDaat' branch/track (about 150 students total across the institution) alongside its main programming.

A hesder yeshiva in Netivot established in 2000, with about 50 students (roughly 20 in active military service), founded by Rabbi Israel Friedman Ben-Shalom together with his son Shmuli Ben-Shalom, with Rabbi David Asulin serving as head of yeshiva.

A hesder yeshiva in Kiryat Gat established in 2006 (5766), known for its in-depth analytical approach and high level of Talmudic and halachic study. About 150 students, including about 20 avrechim (married scholars) and 130 unmarried students, led by Rabbi Amir Maman.

A higher/hesder yeshiva in Dimona established roughly 12 years ago, led by Rabbi David Torjeman, taking responsibility for Torah leadership in the city. Encourages enlistment in combat roles within the hesder track as well as special forces and reconnaissance units; the hesder track runs 17 months of service.

One of Israel's larger hesder yeshivot, established in 2000 and deliberately located in Mitzpe Ramon to advance settlement and spiritual revival in the Negev. About 300 students, including roughly 80 married students, led by Rabbi Tzvi Kostiner; also runs a smaller sister high-school-age yeshiva, Midbara Ke'Eden LeTze'irim. Graduates have founded Torah communities in Arad, Gitit, Givat Shmuel, and elsewhere, serving as rabbis, educators, and military officers.

A hesder-shiluvim yeshiva in Ashkelon educating students toward love of Torah, the Jewish people, and the State of Israel, combining significant military service with a mission-oriented outlook. Offers a post-army teaching-degree track in partnership with Orot Israel College.

A hesder yeshiva in Eilat.

A new pre-military academy established in 2025 under the Bemaalat HaDerech organization, connecting participants to the Nir Oz community -- which was severely affected on October 7 and remains in recovery -- through community responsibility, valued community action, and understanding of contemporary Zionism and settlement.

A mixed pre-military academy at Kibbutz Karmim founded in 2000 by the Zionist Council in Israel (originally at Moshav Argaman in the Jordan Valley, relocated to Kibbutz Karmim in 2008), open to secular, traditional, and religious boys and girls, for a year of identity development, connection to the land, character development, social action, and pioneering spirit.

A secular pre-military academy established in 2001 by the Magal Center for Leadership, based at Midreshet Ben-Gurion within Midreshet Sde Boker, run with the Ramat Negev Regional Council and the Ben-Gurion Heritage Institute. Branches operate at Kibbutz Holit and Kibbutz Tze'elim.

A network of half-year pre-military preparatory programs in the Negev founded by Yonatan Kishinovsky and attorney Avi Cohen, aimed at bridging social gaps by giving youth from Israel's periphery and underrepresented communities access to a pre-military-style experience. Includes personal development, group living, field trips and workshops, identity/social-development study, IDF preparation, and community work.

A pre-military academy in the Arava near Eilat focused on desert studies and leadership, active since 2015-2016, with a curriculum spanning education, philosophy, politics, current affairs, communications, economics, Bible, Israeli culture, and desert geography.

The women's branch of Mechinat Otzem, a study center in the pioneering settlement of Shlomit founded by Otzem alumni.

A newly established branch of Mechinat Otzem in the city of Ofakim, combining Torah study and mission-oriented work. Founded by Rabbi Yotam Sorek, named for his brother Eyal Sorek z"l.

A religious pre-military academy for both young men and women, named for Yoni Netanyahu z"l, established by the Religious Kibbutz Movement at Kibbutz Alumim. Combines Torah, faith, and Jewish philosophy study with kibbutz labor (packing facility, field crops, orchards, kitchen, ranch work), community volunteering, and military preparation. Opened an additional branch at Kibbutz Sa'ad in 2024.

A program for teens to train in CPR, hemorrhage control, and first-responder skills, becoming certified as Emergency Medical Responders, volunteering on ambulances, and assisting in a Hatzalah logistics and dispatch center, alongside water-rescue training on the Kinneret and rappelling with a search-and-rescue unit.

A leadership-development program for teens, centered on planning and running a ten-day camp for the siblings of children with chronic illnesses, combined with outdoor adventure activities -- including rappelling, cliff jumping, snorkeling, and waterskiing -- across Israel.

A touring program for teens combining major Israel sites -- including a dawn hike up Masada, rafting the Kinneret rapids, and a visit to Dialogue in the Dark -- with volunteer work alongside diverse Jewish communities and programming on Torah and connection to the land of Israel.

Israel's national marine research and teaching facility on the Red Sea runs about 20 intensive undergraduate and graduate courses a year, each 1-2 weeks long, combining sailing, snorkeling and diving fieldwork with labs, lectures, and seminars; open to students from any university, with dormitory housing on-site.

A 10-month gap year for Habonim Dror Southern Africa members, combining leadership and educational training at Jerusalem's Machon LeMadrichim, work and communal living on Kibbutz Revivim, and a trip to Poland to confront the history of the Holocaust, all within the Progressive Labor Zionist youth movement's framework.

A gap year for lacrosse players ages 18-30 to live, train and compete in Israel for a college semester or full year, playing in domestic league and exhibition games plus tournaments abroad in Europe, completing a formal coach-certification program and mentoring local youth teams as ambassadors for the sport.

A secular/pluralistic, co-ed pre-military academy in the western Negev near the Gaza border, combining standard mechina Jewish-identity and leadership study with community volunteering in the region.

A pluralistic, co-ed pre-military academy across several small Arava Valley communities, deliberately open to all Jewish denominations to maximize the diversity of its cohort, alongside standard mechina Jewish-identity and leadership study.

A pluralistic, co-ed pre-military academy in Beer Sheva open to students of all religious backgrounds, combining standard mechina Jewish-identity and leadership study with community volunteering in the Negev.

A pluralistic, gender-separated pre-military academy in the Dead Sea region combining the standard mechina curriculum of Jewish identity, Zionism and leadership with the unique desert and Dead Sea environment across its two single-gender campuses.

Israel's only hi-tech-focused gap year, combining a 4-month coding bootcamp (earning a Front-End Developer certificate in mobile and web app development) with a hands-on internship at Be'er Sheva tech companies and start-ups such as Wix and PayPal, plus Hebrew study and organized trips around Israel.

A pluralistic, fully-accredited study-abroad program for high schoolers combining general studies with experiential Israel-studies curriculum (learning history on-site at the actual locations). Offered as a semester, a shorter 'Mini-Mester', or summer sessions; students can earn college credit through the University of Miami. The Reform movement's own standalone semester program, URJ Heller High (formerly NFTY-EIE, previously based at Kibbutz Tzuba), recently merged into AMHSI due to declining enrollment -- Heller High students now live and take Jewish studies together as a track within the AMHSI campus near Tel Aviv rather than as a separate program.

A month-long, hands-on program in permaculture, natural building (straw-bale and earth-plaster construction), and organic agriculture, living on Lotan's eco-campus of student-built earthen domes. Graduates receive an internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate.

An accredited university-level semester (or full-year) environmental studies program bringing together Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, and international students to study topics like sustainable agriculture, cross-border water management, and environmental diplomacy.

A four-year, North American-style M.D. program taught in English, integrating global health coursework throughout. First three years in Israel (with Medical Hebrew in years 1-2), fourth-year clinical electives at Columbia University Medical Center, and an eight-week clerkship in an underserved community worldwide. Applicants need an undergraduate degree, at least one year of North American college coursework, and an MCAT or GAMSAT score; must hold a passport from a country with diplomatic relations with Israel.

A dedicated English-language overseas track of the religious Zionist Mechinat Otzem, allowing young Jewish men from abroad to live, study Torah, and volunteer alongside Israeli mechina students for a gap year, with many graduates going on to IDF special forces units. One of the few mechinot with a purpose-built English-speaking cohort for overseas participants.

Founded in 1997 as Israel's first secular/pluralistic mechina and the first to accept international participants, Nachshon alternates 'in' weeks of campus study with 'out' weeks of hiking and volunteering, emphasizing leadership, Zionism, and Israeli identity. Runs in Hebrew and is primarily for Israelis, but has a history of hosting overseas participants through the Yachad program.

Sapir Academic College's International Office offers semester-based courses in English for overseas students in fields such as marketing, communications, cinema, law, economics, and social work, studying alongside Israeli peers.

BGU's overseas student program offers a semester or year of English-taught coursework spanning anthropology, environmental studies, political science, global health, and Israel studies, plus a six-week Hebrew ulpan and dorm life with Israeli suitemates.

A 28-day BBYO Passport journey across Israel including hiking Mount Arbel and Masada, rafting the Jordan River, Bedouin-style desert camping, and a multi-day Gadna army-style program.

A 22-day BBYO Passport trip through Israel for teens in grades 8-12, visiting major cities and lesser-known sites while engaging with diverse local communities.

A month-long immersive Israel journey for 10th-12th graders (successor to the historic USY Israel Pilgrimage), with an optional Poland add-on.

A three-week touring experience in Israel for public-school Jewish teens, combining hikes, historical/religious sites, and Jewish heritage programming.

Founded in 1995 by Rabbi Dovid Fendel, now the largest Hesder yeshiva in Israel with 800+ Israeli students; no dedicated formal overseas learning track, though a US nonprofit supports it.

A 6-10 month fellowship placing Jewish young adults as English-teaching assistants in Israeli public schools, paired with Hebrew study and professional development.

A free 10-day trip to Israel for young Jewish adults ages 18-32, covering history, culture, food, and modern life across the country. Registration fills up fast, so early application is strongly recommended.