AUJS — The Australasian Union of Jewish Students

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• Short Term Programs in Israel

  • AUJS Academy
  • AUJS Achshav
  • Taglit - Birthright Israel

• Long Term Programs in Israel

  • AUJS Aviv

• Other Programs

  • AUJS Heritage Tour
  • AUJS Leadership Development Program (LDP)
  • Volunteer Nepal

• Programs - More Information

  • Programs - Madrichim
  • Programs - Safety & Security
  • Programs - Travel Arrangements
  • Programs - Medical Information
  • Programs - Scholarships

Programs - Safety & Security

 

The safety of our participants and of our staff is paramount. It is our highest priority and we will not compromise on this in any way. Our programs operate under strict security guidelines to ensure that participants are secure at all times. 

To implement our program in Israel, we work with a company called the Israel Experience, who exist under the framework of the Sochnut, or Jewish Agency. A department of the Sochnut, specifically set-up for Israel Programs such as ours is the Cheder Matzav or situation room. This is an umbrella department under which there is Military and Police representation. The Cheder Matzav operates to ensure the safety of our programs, 24hours a day. These desks provide us with information upon which we base our security guidelines.

The Cheder Matzav reviews and passes our itineraries on an ongoing basis. This process begins as our drafts are submitted for review in a few months and continue whilst on the program when the itineraries are submitted for approval on the night before and morning of every day. We have the flexibility to amend programs on the day if we are advised to. 

Whilst we have been very fortunate to have enjoyed reasonable quiet in Israel over the last few years, each of the groups on the program will always have an armed guard with them at all times. Each group has a GPS with them, meaning the Cheder Matzav is always able to track our groups locations.

Our groups don’t travel into the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.

Participants on Short Term programs

Participants on short term programs will not have any opportunity to travel on public transportation, nor will anyone from the public be permitted to travel on our private coaches.

Additionally, there is no unstructured free time on these programs. This is important – that means that participants are not allowed to simply leave the group to do as they please. We certainly facilitate nights out, free time in markets and shopping centres, free time hanging out on the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem etc, however this all happens within the guidelines that the madrichim will deliver each day. These policies are to ensure each participants safety every day. 

 

Participants on Long Term programs

Participants on long term programs have different security guidelines as they have free weekends and holiday periods during the program. Security outlines will be set at the beginning of the program, and may change throughout the program if necessary.