An overwhelming majority of Israelis believe that the Birthright Israel organization, also known as Taglit, is the most influential entity affecting the relationship between Diaspora Jews and Israel.
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Birthright Israel brings young Jews from all over the world on a 10-day free tour in Israel. According to its website, it seeks to strengthen Jewish identity, Jewish community, and connection with Israel by offering a free trip to Israel for young Jewish adults.
The new survey, released on Wednesday, shows that 70% of Israelis believe it has become the most important organization in the bond between Jews in Israel and outside of it. Another finding from the survey shows that 88% of Israelis think that strengthening the ties with young Jews in the Diaspora is critical for Israel's overall strength.
"To ensure that Israel will remain strong, independent, with support from the global community, we must strengthen and cultivate the relationship with Diaspora Jewry," Birthright Israel's CEO Gidi Mark said in a statement.
"While there is an alarming increase in antisemitic and anti-Zionist sentiment around the world, and especially in the United States, a new survey found that the vast majority of Israelis (88%) think that strengthening the relationship with young Jews in the world is essential to strengthen the state Israel, for strategic and security reasons – no less," the organization noted in a press release. The survey, conducted by the Rushinek Institute and included a random and representative sample of Israelis aged 18-64, shows that 80% of Israelis believe that Birthright Israel has "strategic and critical importance to the State of Israel and the Jewish people," it continued, adding that most Israelis think "Birthright is the organization with the most significant impact on the relationship between Diaspora, Israel, and Israelis."
Furthermore, "about 80% of Israelis believe that Birthright helps combat anti-Israeli content distributed in the media, through alumni, thus contributing to the improvement of Israel's public image and 71% of respondents explained that alumni of the program understand Israeli reality better after their visit here, and therefore represents it better abroad," the organization stressed.
"It is precisely now when we see an alarming increase in the number of antisemitic and anti-Israeli incidents on social media, campuses, and public space, that it is more important than ever to bring those young people from all over the world for an educational-Zionist tour," Mark said. "For many of them, this is the first visit to Israel, after which they really understand what it means to be Israeli and what the challenges and difficulties of life in Israel are, and they return to their countries with greater knowledge. To ensure the State of Israel remains strong, independent, and an integral part of the global community, we must strengthen and cultivate the relationship with Diaspora Jewry. We have to continue to bring as many young Jews to Israel as possible – for short and mid-term programs, so they can make their own impression, create relationships with Israelis, and formulate an independent opinion."
Data from Birthright shows that during this year's winter season of Birthright, some 12,000 young people arrived in Israel from 15 countries, including the United States, Canada Argentina, Brazil, Australia, France, Russia, Germany, and Ukraine.
Full disclosure: Israel Hayom publisher Dr. Miriam Adleson has been the project's largest funder, along with her late husband philanthropist and businessman Sheldon Adelson, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to the Birthright Israel Foundation.
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