International Students from the Diaspora and Higher Education in Israel.

Worldwide, one of the important parameters for measuring the level of
a higher education institution is the number of students from abroad –
Internationalization. Today, English is the international language. Thus,
International Students (I-Ss) prefer to study in English-speaking countries.
Consequently, even non-English-speaking countries tend to offer academic
programs in English. Israel is unique. It has a large potential of I-Ss that prefer Israel – just because of the Hebrew language and culture – who are students from the Jewish-Diaspora. These students, however, still need academic programs in English. Most of the Jewish-Diaspora is found in English-speaking countries; thus improving their English is not their objective. As the largest Jewish-Diaspora, the US has the highest potential for I-Ss. This is due to its high tuition rate versus the lower Israeli tuition.
However, the Israeli Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education prefers I-Ss from China and India, imitating the US situation, rather than catering to its natural market of I-Ss in the Diaspora.
Our paper focuses on this great potential for I-Ss in Israel