Ukraine Outperforms Israel in PISA Tests Amid War, Critics Say
Ukraine has shown greater resilience than Israel in the face of war-related educational disruptions, according to a new analysis by the Berl Katznelson Foundation. While Israel experienced a significant decline in the 2025 PISA test results, Ukraine, which is enduring a far more severe conflict, saw a much smaller drop. Israel's results in mathematics, reading, and science were the lowest ever recorded, falling significantly below the OECD average and placing the country in the bottom quintile of developed nations. In a digital learning assessment, Israel ranked 54th out of 85 countries.
Education Minister Yoav Kisch attributed Israel's poor performance to the ongoing war, stating that the results were a testament to the Israeli education system's "extraordinary resilience" after "almost a year and a half of war, community evacuations, and deep disruptions to the learning continuum." The Ministry of Education echoed this, calling PISA 2025 "first and foremost a snapshot of learning during wartime."
However, the Berl Katznelson Foundation's analysis, conducted by Rami Hod and Aviad Huminer-Rosenbaum, highlights a stark contrast. Despite Ukraine facing widespread destruction and a higher casualty rate relative to its population, its average score across the three core PISA subjects dropped by only 6 points, compared to Israel's 29-point decline. In science, Ukraine dropped one point while Israel fell 23. In reading, Ukraine dropped 9 points versus Israel's 38.
This shift is dramatic: in 2022, Israel led Ukraine by 27 points on average; by 2025, this lead had shrunk to just 5 points. The foundation's CEO, Rami Hod, dismissed the minister's explanation as a "thin excuse," calling the PISA data an "indictment" of a government that has "abandoned public education" while funding sectoral education systems. He criticized the government for underfunding and weakening the public school system and its teachers.
Further scrutiny of Minister Kisch's schedule revealed that between 2023 and 2025, he held only three meetings directly related to PISA tests out of over 4,500 recorded meetings. In contrast, he held numerous meetings concerning ultra-Orthodox education, state-religious education, and settlements in Judea and Samaria. The three PISA-related meetings included a preliminary session on the 2022 results, the results presentation itself, and a meeting with the Trump Foundation regarding PISA tests.
