Harvard Israel Trek Postponed Until May Due to Safety Concerns Amid Israel-Iran Escalation

Harvard College Israel Trek, an annual trip to Israel over spring break, has been rescheduled until May over safety concerns amid escalating regional conflict following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

Trip organizers had planned to take students on a free, ten-day tour through Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and parts of the West Bank, with opportunities to engage in discussions with high-ranking Palestinian, Jewish, and Arab-Israeli officials.

The trip — which returned last March after being cancelled in 2024 following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel — was set to include 80 student attendees.

But over the past two weeks, following U.S. and Israeli strikes across Iran, Israel has experienced multiple Iranian missile attacks and cross-border attacks from Hezbollah targeting military sites and northern cities.

Last week, the trip’s leaders realized that commercial flights between the U.S. and Israel were being suspended and determined that the Trek could not be “executed safely as planned,” Israel Trek Director Doron Ben Haim ’27 wrote in a statement to The Crimson. Organizers then decided to reschedule the trip to May.

“We had been monitoring the situation closely since the escalation began,” Ben Haim wrote, adding that the program “acted as soon as we had sufficient clarity to make a responsible call.”

Ben Haim wrote that organizers worked in “close coordination with local authorities, our-on-the-ground partners, and peer programs” to assess conditions. Prior to the current escalation, he said, they had felt “very confident” about their plans to move forward with the trip.

Still, Ben Haim emphasized that the delay was temporary.

“Israel Trek will happen,” he wrote, calling the rescheduling a “pause, not a conclusion.”

In a message to participants last Tuesday, Ben Haim said the group was looking at May 14-24 as an alternative window and that if the dates did not work for students, their up-front deposit would be fully refunded.

Since the rescheduling, some participants have dropped due to travel conflicts and prior commitments, but a majority plan to stay, according to Ben Haim.

“Our mission is unchanged, and our commitment to bringing Harvard students into direct, meaningful engagement with Israel is as strong as it has ever been,” he wrote.

Last November, the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard Jews for Peace called on students to boycott the trip after what they labeled “more than two years of escalated genocide in Gaza.”

The statement marked the latest in a series of boycott campaigns the PSC has launched against the Trek — the fifth in the past seven years — arguing that the programming is not neutral.

Ben Haim did not respond to a request for comment.

Ben Haim and Trek co-director Maya Shiloni ’26 wrote on the Harvard Hillel website that the Trek aims to bring non-Jewish students to Israel and offer a more holistic view of the country.

“At Harvard, misinformation about Israel has fueled division and hostility, where students often form opinions without encountering the human stories behind the headlines,” the website states. “We aim to foster empathy and thoughtful connections on campus through hands-on engagement with Israel and Israelis.”

Despite the delay and continued scrutiny, Ben Haim said he was optimistic about the Trek’s path forward.

“We have been genuinely moved by the commitment our participants have shown,” he wrote. “The deliberateness of this process reflects our respect for the 80 students who have committed to this experience; we want to get it right.”

Correction: March 10, 2026

A previous version of this article incorrectly described the group of 80 Israel Trek participants as the program’s largest cohort. In fact, Israel Trek had larger cohorts in previous years.

—Staff writer Alma T. Barak can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at almabk.54. Follow her on X @almabk_.

—Staff writer Theresa F. Bartelme can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at theresabartelme.15. Follow her on X @theresabartelme.