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(JTA) – 5 years after elevating the age restrict for Israel tour members, Birthright Israel is reverting to a coverage of funding free journeys solely to younger adults 26 and beneath.
This summer season would be the final likelihood for Jews aged 27 to 32 to take part in Birthright, except for anybody older who had registered for a visit that was canceled due to the pandemic, in line with a spokesperson for the nonprofit group.
The journeys, designed to provide younger Jews (largely People) a crash course in Israeli historical past and tradition within the hopes of convincing them to stay concerned in Jewish life and pro-Israel causes, are supplied to any Jewish younger grownup aged 18 and up who has by no means been to Israel.
Launched in 1999, Birthright journeys attracted round 40,000 members yearly earlier than the pandemic interrupted worldwide journey; they’ve additionally drawn rising criticism from liberal Jews and others that they current a view of Israel that obscures the expertise of Palestinians inside Israel and within the West Financial institution.
Birthright had raised its higher age restrict for eligibility to 32 in 2017, to replicate what Gidi Mark, Taglit-Birthright’s worldwide CEO, had stated was a broader cultural shift of younger adults delaying main life choices like getting married and having youngsters to later in life.
However that call allowed Jewish younger adults to place off their Israel engagement, too, the group concluded — a significant delay given what it characterised as a difficult local weather on school campuses.
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“Extending the age to 32 precipitated the 26-year-olds to postpone their journey,” the spokesperson instructed the Jewish Telegraphic Company. “We consider that by making a extra structured timeframe to take part, younger individuals will make a Birthright Israel journey a precedence at a time once they can absolutely have interaction and profit.”
Refocusing on school undergraduates and graduate college students, the spokesperson stated, additionally permits Birthright to reply to “rising situations of antisemitism and lack of information of Israel on school and college campuses throughout the globe.”
The shift comes shortly after Birthright introduced it might be merging with Onward Israel, which organizes prolonged Israel packages for 19-to-27-year-olds. It additionally comes amid a number of pressures on Birthright’s sustainability and mannequin.
Whereas the group receives help from a big selection of donors — bringing in practically $100 million a yr over the past decade, in line with varieties it has filed to the IRS — its founder and most distinguished donor, Michael Steinhardt, has run into repeated hassle lately.
Steinhardt was accused by a number of ladies of sexual misconduct in 2019 and, final yr, struck a deal to keep away from prosecution for plundering and illegally buying and selling millennia-old Israeli antiquities; as a part of his settlement, he surrendered $70 million price of antiquities.
As well as, on line casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a serious donor and influential voice within the course of this system, died final yr.
Birthright has additionally drawn help from the Genesis Philanthropy Group, which was based by three Russian Jews who may now face sanctions due to Russia’s warfare on Ukraine.
Birthright, which has additionally acquired main funding from the State of Israel itself, didn’t reply to questions on its involvement with Steinhardt or whether or not it’s nonetheless funded by the Adelson household. Its web site nonetheless publicizes Steinhardt’s position in its founding and lists him as an honorary board member.
In keeping with a examine of Birthright’s first decade launched in 2020, Jews who participated in Birthright had been extra seemingly than their friends who utilized however didn’t go on a visit to marry Jewish companions and to really feel linked to Israel, two objectives of the initiative. However the group is working in a really totally different local weather from when it launched. Current information on American Jews from the Pew Analysis Heart reveals {that a} rising variety of youthful, much less religiously observant Jews — Birthright’s target market — really feel disconnected from the fashionable state of Israel, and multiple in 10 help the motion to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel.
A few of that sentiment has been directed squarely at Birthright. In 2018 and 2019, Jewish activists from the group IfNotNow, which seeks to get American Jews to behave towards Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, waged an intensive marketing campaign towards Birthright; some journey members walked out in protest, whereas others had been arrested outdoors Birthright’s Manhattan workplace and interrupted a speech by then-President Donald Trump to Republican Jews.
These protests could have contributed to Birthright more and more turning into a flashpoint for progressive younger Jews and others who say the journeys whitewash Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. In a single signal of the occasions, a novel a few Birthright-like journey drew fierce criticism properly earlier than it was launched final month.
The journey was additionally parodied on a number of episodes of the Comedy Central present “Broad Metropolis,” which depicted its Jewish heroines signing up for a free “Birthmark” journey to Israel — throughout which they had been pressured to safe appropriate Jewish mates.
About 25,000 persons are anticipated to go on Birthright journeys this yr, in line with the group’s spokesperson. The journeys resumed final fall after a yr and a half on hiatus, with a couple of exceptions, due to the pandemic.
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