In times of national uncertainty, it is easy to focus on the crises immediately before us. Far more difficult is investing in the future. Yet that is precisely what the University of Haifa’s Northern Lights Initiative seeks to do.

The program, which helps young Druze men transition from military service into higher education, is modest in scale. Its first cohort includes just 19 students. But its ambitions are far greater than its size. It seeks to answer a simple yet profound challenge: creating an education bridge for Druze men who have too long faced structural barriers to academic success.

For decades, the Druze community has occupied a unique place in Israeli society. Druze male citizens have a long tradition of military service and civic participation, contributing significantly to Israel’s security and public life. Yet an important educational trend has emerged over the past four decades. While increasing numbers of Druze women have pursued university degrees, many young Druze men have chosen to remain in military careers or enter the workforce immediately after completing their service to support their families.

The results are striking. At the University of Haifa, approximately 75 percent of the institution’s 1,600 Druze students are women. While their academic success is something to........

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