For the first time since 2020: Only two Israeli universities are among the top 100 in the world
For the first time since 2020, there are no three Israeli universities in the top 100 of the prestigious Shanghai Ranking. The Technion has fallen out of the top 100, while the Weizmann Institute and the Hebrew University have maintained their positions.
For the first time since 2020, there are no three Israeli universities in the top 100 of the prestigious Shanghai Ranking. This comes after the Technion, which has been consistently dropping in the rankings in recent years, fell out of the top 100 (ranked 100-150). The Weizmann Institute (71st) and the Hebrew University (89th) have maintained stability.
The Shanghai Ranking, published since 2003, evaluates the level of research in academic institutions worldwide according to various criteria, including the number of Nobel and Fields Medal winners among researchers and alumni, the number of scientific articles published in leading journals such as Nature and Science, and other research performance metrics. The ranking covers more than 2,500 universities, and the publication presents the top 1,000.
The Weizmann Institute has declined slightly in recent years—from 68th place in 2023 and 69th in 2024 to 71st place last year—and maintained this position in 2026. The Hebrew University was in 86th place in 2023, climbed to 81st place in 2024, dropped to 88th place in 2025, and is ranked 89th this year. In contrast, the Technion has been consistently dropping in the rankings for years: it was ranked 79th in 2023, 83rd in 2024, 97th in 2025, and fell out of the top 100 this year.
Tel Aviv University is located in the 150-200 range, Ben-Gurion University in the 401-500 range, Bar-Ilan University in the 501-600 range, and the University of Haifa in the 601-700 range.
The situation where Israel usually has three institutions in the top 100 is a huge compliment to the local academy. One of the reasons for the high rankings of Israeli universities is the relatively numerous wins of Israelis in Nobel and Fields prizes. Another reason is that in recent years, universities have begun to invest great efforts to adapt to the ranking criteria.
The fact that they are struggling to maintain their positions indicates the great progress of universities in the Far East and the Arabian Peninsula. For example, three of the four universities that entered the top 100 this year were Chinese. Universities in Israel are struggling to compete with the huge investments of other countries in academia, especially when the State of Israel invests very little and is effectively drying up the academy. The decline of the Technion is notable, among other things, in light of the fact that the two campuses it established in recent years in Guangdong, China, and Manhattan are helping it greatly in international collaborations.
Harvard University remains in first place in the world, followed by Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Cambridge University is in fourth place, and the University of California, Berkeley completes the global top five. Universities in the USA make up eight of the global top ten and 14 of the top twenty. The UK has two universities in the top ten—Cambridge and Oxford. 16 institutions from China are now in the world's top 100, an increase from 13 in 2025.
