Prof. Daniel A. Chamovitz , BGU President 27/06/2025
Original Article - https://www.bgu.ac.il/en/u/research-centers/csoc/articlescsoc/cfa2027-2028/
Dear Friends,
As I write this, it has been eight days since a missile struck a building at Soroka University Medical Center—one that also houses part of our Goldman Medical School. One week since another rocket exploded near my apartment, just across from the Advanced Technologies Park, and another missile part pierced the university's gymnasium roof, exploding the flooring and walls. And now four days since the ceasefire that concluded what is clearly an extraordinary military victory.
On Sunday, the Marcus Family Campus will reopen. The shattered glass has been swept up, and the broken windows and doors have been temporarily sealed. True, the damage to our facilities at Soroka and the Sports Center will take many months and millions of dollars to fully repair. But academically, we are ready to resume in full.
And yet, as the evening TV news just reminded us: while the twelve-day war may have ended in victory, the 630-day war, with 50 hostages still held by Hamas, plods on. Our students and children are still fighting in Gaza.
Yesterday, in a rare moment of reflection, I asked ChatGPT:
“It feels that over the past five years, while I’ve been President of BGU, there have been more life-changing events, especially in Israel, but also globally, than in the previous five. Is this just perception bias?”
The answer I got pointed out that of course, our cognitive filters do magnify what is recent, what is negative, and what hits close to home. Recency and proximity intensify our sense of crisis.
But the final verdict also made clear: this is not just perception. This is reality.
From political paralysis to a global pandemic, from the trauma of October 7 to direct Iranian missile strikes, from unprecedented global inflation to record-setting heatwaves, from war in Ukraine to war at our gates, we’ve not only lived through more, we’ve lived through it all at once. This wasn’t a series of storms. It was a polycrisis: stacked, overlapping, and relentless.
And yet, here we are. We’re still teaching, still researching, still shaping the next generation. Our students are still showing up, resilient, engaged, and, I pray, determined to build a better future.
I didn’t choose to lead BGU during this moment in history. But I did choose to believe in the Negev, in Israel, and in all of you. And that belief remains stronger than ever, and gives me the confidence that we will rebuild stronger than we were just 9nine days ago.
Shabbat Shalom,
Danny Chamovitz
