Communication on the Current Situation in Israel, December 2023

Announcement of National Erasmus+ Office in Israel on the Current Situation

In the wake of the massacre that took place on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the academic year at all publicly funded Israeli HEIs has been postponed and is scheduled to open no earlier than December 24, 2024. Despite the tragic losses and major challenges that the country is facing, the academic sector in Israel is resilient and functioning. We invite partners that are looking to collaborate with Israel in the upcoming calls to register their details in the NEO’s Partner Search Platform or contact Higher Education Institutions directly.

Due to these circumstances, there have been cases in which students and staff from EU member states and associated countries who planned to spend the semester in Israel had to return to their countries, as well as Israeli students and staff who needed to return to Israel. In these cases, the Force Majeure Clause can be executed by the partners from EU member states/associated countries.

The National Erasmus+ Office in Israel sends the deepest condolences to all our colleagues who have suffered and lost loved ones. We wish for better days quickly.

A party prevented by force majeure from fulfilling its obligations under the Agreement cannot be considered in breach of them.

‘Force majeure’ means any situation or event that:

• prevents either party from fulfilling their obligations under the Agreement,
• was unforeseeable, exceptional situation and beyond the parties’ control,
• was not due to error or negligence on their part (or on the part of other participating entities involved in the action), and
• proves to be inevitable in spite of exercising all due diligence.

Any situation constituting force majeure must be formally notified to the other party without delay, stating the nature, likely duration and foreseeable effects.

The parties must immediately take all the necessary steps to limit any damage due to force majeure and do their best to resume implementation of the action as soon as possible.

“National Agencies have the possibility to apply the force majeure as defined in the grant agreement for projects and mobilities facing difficulties (…)
 

On that basis, beneficiaries concerned must formally notify the National Agency without delay, stating the nature, likely duration and foreseeable effects. The beneficiaries may request the suspension of the grant or any part of it, if exceptional circumstances – in particular force majeure – make implementation of the action impossible or excessively difficult. In line with the above, the beneficiaries may wish to cancel, postpone or replace activities planned on the affected territories (…) even ask for an early termination of the agreement. This has to be formally notified to the National Agency.
 

Beneficiaries facing a situation of force majeure who cannot, as a result, comply with the planned actions as indicated in the grant agreement will not be considered in breach of their obligations. Therefore, costs that have already been incurred within the projects may be accepted on a case-by-case basis even if the implementation of the action did not take place (e.g. a travel ticket that was already paid and no refund was possible; the activity could not take place and no refund was possible).
 

In case of early termination of grant agreements implementing outgoing Erasmus+ (…) mobilities to affected territories, justified repatriation costs of participants can be accepted as exceptional costs, whereas normal reporting requirements apply. In case exceptional costs are not an option, participating organisations could opt for the use of organisational support funds.”

Click here to learn more on how to apply force majeure through the Erasmus+ mobility tool (managed by the EU Member State/Associated Country).

We invite organisations and individuals seeking assistance or more information on this subject or regarding other issues relating to Erasmus+ in Israel to contact our office at: Eramusplus@che.org.il