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Children and adolescents in residential-care facilities often have lower academic achievements that their counterparts who are raised at home. Traditionally, residential programs do not prioritize academic achievements, especially at the high-school level, a situation detrimental to their chances to enter institutes of higher education. The Israel Ministry of Education decided to implement a policy change to affect the overall ecology of youth villages (Israeli residential schools), aimed at emphasizing high school academic achievements as a key to future success. This attitudinal change led to the development of after-school study centers or evening classes within the village, applying non-formal teaching and learning methods in a relaxed atmosphere. Additionally, various support systems were developed in youth villages, all geared toward helping adolescents excel in meeting the challenges of high school.

The Council for Higher Education in Israel has set a goal to increase the number of Israelis of Ethiopian origin enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. The initial target, which the council hopes to meet by 2020, is to increase the number of students from the community who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree to 1.7 percent of the student body, similar to their percentage in Israel’s overall population. Currently that rate stands at 1.54 percent, or 3,567 students. Only a tiny number of Ethiopian Israelis who have earned undergraduate degrees continue on to postgraduate degrees.

This article makes two distinct yet interrelated arguments about the role of children in research on contemporary American Jews. The first is that children ought to be included in research about American Judaism. Second, the inclusion of children in research both widens the scope and shifts the focus of understanding American Jewish relationships to Israel. Children’s participation in research demonstrates how American Jews develop relationships with Israel over the course of a lifetime.

In the present article, I discuss current and past peace and reconciliation educational efforts conducted between Palestinians and Israelis. I concentrate on the educational initiatives conducted for Jewish- and Palestinian-Israeli citizens and not on those less common taking place between Israelis and Palestinians in the Palestinian Authority.