For the generation building Israel's next chapter.
"It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena."- Theodore Roosevelt
If you're reading this, you probably already sense that something is missing.
You've built things. You've led people. You've sat in rooms where everyone is talking about growth metrics and fundraising rounds - and found yourself thinking about something else entirely. Something harder to name.
You're not looking for another accelerator. You're not looking for a network. You're looking for the question underneath all the other questions.
That's what Moonshots Fellows is for.
Israel turns 100 in 2048. The people who will shape what it looks like - the builders, the leaders, the officers, the founders - are in their formative years right now. This is that moment.
The question Moonshots Fellows asks is not whether they will be successful. They will be successful. The question is whether they will be wise. Whether they will know who they are when the pressure is at its highest. Whether they will lead with integrity when no one is watching.
That is what a compass is for.
The founders who built CyberArk, Armis, Mobileye, and Waze didn't just have great technology. They had a sense of mission - a feeling that they were part of something larger than their cap table. They saw themselves as builders of a state, not just a startup.
That sense of mission is not being transmitted. Moonshots Fellows draws on the Great Books of Western and Jewish civilization, the living story of Israeli pioneering, and rigorous self-examination - to produce leaders who know not just how to build, but why.
This program has no political agenda. We welcome fellows from every background - secular, religious, left, right, Arab, Jewish. Our only goal is to help each fellow develop a compass that is authentically their own.
Each module asks a different question. All five converge in the capstone - your Personal Value Compass, presented publicly at the Closing Ceremony.
Identity, legacy, and belonging. Where do you come from - and what did it make you?
Israeli hi-tech as living Zionism. Are you building a company - or building a state?
Leadership and accountability. What kind of leader are you becoming?
Wisdom, philosophy, and logic. How do you know what you know?
Statecraft, justice, and moral responsibility. What do you owe the world you're building into?
Every session is different. But here is the shape of a typical Friday morning in central Tel Aviv.
We chose Friday morning deliberately. The week is winding down. Shabbat is approaching - and with it, a natural invitation to slow down and reflect. There is something distinctly Israeli about starting Shabbat having asked a hard question. The session ends at noon, and the afternoon is yours.
The program is not designed to give you answers. It is designed to give you the tools to find your own - and the people to find them with.
A living document you built yourself - your values, your decision-making framework, your north star. Not assigned. Not borrowed. Yours.
At the Closing Ceremony, you deliver a ten-minute talk before an invited audience of mentors, investors, and partners. A statement of who you are and what you stand for.
The Great Books - Jewish, Western, Israeli - that serious leaders have always drawn from. A library you'll return to for the rest of your career.
The ability to know what you believe when the stakes are high and the room is moving fast. The hardest thing to build - and the most valuable thing to have.
Not contacts. Not connections. People who have sat across from you in hard conversations for six months. The rarest and most durable kind of network there is.
Ongoing sessions, annual seminars, and access to every fellow across every cohort. The program ends. The fellowship doesn't.
Every Fellow builds one. No two are alike.
Every Fellow builds a living document across the full six months - a personal decision-making framework grounded in everything they have read, argued, and examined. Presented publicly at the Closing Ceremony. Not as a summary of what they learned. As a declaration of who they are.
"Israel's greatest export is not technology - it's the kind of person the Israeli experience produces. Moonshots Fellows is about making that formation conscious, intentional, and transferable to the next generation."
Moonshots Fellows is for Israelis who sense that something is missing. Who are building - or about to build - something that matters, and feel the pull of a deeper question. Not about what they're making. About why it's worth making.
Israelis building something significant - a company, an institution, a movement. Already carrying real responsibility. Already asking whether what they're building is worth building.
People trusted with real responsibility at Israel's most important companies, institutions, and organizations - quietly asking bigger questions about who they want to become.
Graduates of Unit 8200, Sayeret Matkal, and other elite units making the transition to civilian life. The IDF produces Israel's most capable people - and almost none receive formation education before they enter the arena.
Analysts, associates, or junior partners at Israeli VC firms. They shape the next generation of companies - they should be shaped too.
All nominations must be submitted by this date.
Shortlisted candidates invited for a personal conversation.
Three-day residential seminar. Where the cohort truly begins.
Every Friday, 09:00–12:00, central Tel Aviv. Breakfast included.
Graduation is a beginning. Moonshots Fellows are part of a growing network of Israeli leaders who have asked the same hard questions - and chosen to answer them seriously.
Once a year, all cohorts come together. New thinkers, new questions, the same depth. The room gets more interesting every year.
Periodic evening sessions throughout the year - bringing fellows back together around live issues and guest speakers from the ecosystem.
Access to every fellow across every cohort. A permanent peer group of Israel's most thoughtful young leaders.
When you nominate someone, you are signing your name to a claim: this person belongs in the room. We take that seriously.
A former commander, professor, or senior colleague who has seen you perform under pressure and believes in who you're becoming.
A CEO, team lead, or investor who sees your potential daily and believes you need something more than your current environment offers.
A co-founder, fellow soldier, or close colleague who sees the questions you're already asking - and thinks you're ready to go deeper.
A graduate of a previous Moonshots Fellows cohort who sees in you what they once saw in themselves - and wants to bring you in.
A senior figure in Israeli hi-tech, the military, academia, or public life who believes the program needs people like the person they're nominating.
You cannot nominate yourself. But you can reach out to someone who knows you well and ask them to put your name forward. That ask itself says something.
If you're writing a nomination, here is what we're looking for - and what disqualifies a candidate.
Speaks about uncertainty and gaps in their own thinking, not just achievements
Has read seriously outside their field in the last year
Can describe a moment when they genuinely changed their mind
Shows intellectual humility without false modesty
Already asks questions their peers aren't asking yet
Feels responsible to something beyond their own career
Comes in with all the answers - the program is a credential, not a calling
Treats this primarily as a networking opportunity
Can't name a book read outside their industry this year
Dismisses the identity and values dimension as "soft"
Their nomination reads like a LinkedIn recommendation - impressive but hollow
They want to be selected. They don't want to be changed.
Every fellow enters through a nomination - from someone who knows them well enough to say: this person belongs in the room.
If you know someone who should be here, nominate them. If you think you should be here, ask someone who believes in you to put your name forward.
Nominate a Fellow Nominations close 30 June 2026Every Friday morning, 09:00–12:00, in central Tel Aviv. Breakfast is included. The program runs October through March - six months, twenty-four sessions. It begins with a three-day residential seminar on 6–8 October at a significant location in Israel.
Every Friday morning for six months, plus the three-day opening seminar. Fellows are also expected to read assigned materials before each session - typically 20–40 minutes per week. Full attendance at all sessions is a condition of the fellowship - not a preference.
Five thematic modules, each approximately one month. Who Are You? - identity, legacy, belonging. The Builder's Story - Israeli hi-tech as a civilizational project. The Man in the Arena - leadership and accountability. How to Think - philosophy, logic, epistemic humility. Law, Ethics, and the World You're Building Into - what founders owe to society. Every session is built around primary sources, live discussion, and direct application to each fellow's life and work.
No. Moonshots Fellows is explicitly apolitical. We welcome fellows from every background - secular, religious, left, right, Arab, Jewish. We are not here to push any political position. We are here to help each fellow develop a compass that is authentically their own. The goal is not consensus - it is clarity.
Sessions feature some of the best lecturers and thinkers in Israel - philosophers, founders, former military leaders, public intellectuals, and senior figures from across Israeli life. Every guest is chosen not for their title, but for their ability to speak honestly and challenge a room of smart people.
The program is heavily subsidized and costs 6,000 ILS for the full six months - covering all sessions, materials, and the residential seminar including all meals. Scholarships are available upon request. Cost will never be the reason the right person doesn't participate.
Fellows do not apply directly - they are nominated. All nominations are reviewed, and shortlisted candidates are invited for a personal conversation. Selection is not primarily about what you have accomplished. It is about whether you are ready to be formed. Cohort size is 18, by design.
No. Every fellow enters through a nomination from someone else. If you think you should be here, ask someone who believes in you to put your name forward. That ask itself says something important.
The program is bilingual - Hebrew and English. Most sessions run primarily in Hebrew, with English used for international guest speakers and selected source texts.
Write to us at [email protected]. We read every message and will respond within a few days.
"If you will it, it is no dream."- Theodor Herzl
Nominations close 30 June 2026.
18 Fellows. Six months.
One compass.