Iranian missile damage derails Weizmann’s plans for new medical school
The strike has raised fresh doubts about Israel’s ability to meet future doctor-training targets.
The Weizmann Institute has reduced the number of medical students in its first academic year by about 50%, citing damage caused by the Iranian missile strike in June and a lack of time for refresher courses. The institute had planned to accept up to 40 students for the inaugural class and expected to reach that figure given strong demand. In the end, it accepted only 20.
The shortage of study places is part of a wider national challenge. In 2024, just 28% of Israel’s 2,637 newly licensed doctors studied in the country; the remaining 72% trained abroad. In recent years, the number of available places for first-year medical students in Israel has grown from about 800 at the end of the previous decade to 1,140 nationwide last year. According to a government decision from December 2024, the target is to reach 1,360 new medical students in the coming academic year and 1,700 for the cohort beginning in 2027. However, the country was already 100 students short of its 2024 target of 1,230, raising doubts about meeting future goals.
As part of the expansion effort, the private Reichman University opened a medical school this winter, and the Council for Higher Education has approved new medical schools at the Weizmann Institute and the University of Haifa. The Weizmann program, expected to run seven and a half years, is designed for undergraduates and aims to produce doctors who are also researchers. Students will not pay tuition and will receive a subsistence stipend.
The Weizmann Institute stated: “There is no doubt that the security incidents had an impact, which required us to act with caution and responsibility to maintain the highest academic and research standards.”
Another factor was the lack of time to prepare students from non–life sciences backgrounds. “We received final approval to open the program from the Council for Higher Education just before registration began, literally the day after approval. While this allowed us to proceed, it left no time for preparatory courses for students in fields such as physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, and engineering. These students require about a year of basic core courses.”
The institute emphasized that the program would accept “up to 40” students per year, chosen through a rigorous multi-stage process assessing academic and research excellence, clinical skills, interpersonal abilities, motivation, commitment to the program’s vision, and passion for combining science and medicine. Twenty students were admitted to the first cohort, with hopes to reach full capacity next year.
According to the Health Ministry, 2,637 medical licenses were issued in 2024, 78% to graduates of foreign medical schools. This represented a 7% increase from 2023 and a 48% increase from 2020. Immigration of foreign-trained doctors also rose sharply, from around 170 per year in 2019–2022 to 387 in 2023, and 311 in 2024, largely due to the Russia–Ukraine war.
The June missile strike caused massive damage to the Weizmann campus. Two buildings, the Cancer Research Institute and the Advanced Chemical Materials Research Building, were destroyed, the latter just before completion. In total, 112 buildings were damaged, including 60 laboratory buildings and 52 residential structures. Five buildings will be rebuilt, among them the Environmental Laboratories. The attack destroyed 52 research laboratories and six service labs, shutting down up to a quarter of the institute’s operations initially. Direct physical damage to buildings and equipment is estimated at 1.5–2 billion shekels, excluding losses in research output and temporary operating costs for rented facilities.
Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen told the Knesset in June that compensation rules based on depreciation could leave a huge funding gap. “If we purchased a microscope for a scientist five years ago for $1 million, its current value may be $200,000. But replacing it today would cost $1.3–1.5 million. If compensation is based on $200,000, who pays the difference?” he said. He warned that “gray areas in compensation could mean the difference between 500 million shekels and 2 billion shekels” in recovery funds.
