Two former members of the board of the Taglit-Birthright have recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that the government's inaction could jeopardize the initiative.
The two – Aviad Hacohen and Yonatan Bassi – said in the letter that the project – which brings young Jews from around the world on a 10-day trip to get to know Israel free of charge – might suffer a deadly blow without the government tapping a cabinet minister to oversee it and finalize the agreements between the state and its operators. They noted that the contract with the government agencies expired at the end of 2022, putting things in limbo.
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"One cannot overestimate the importance of the project, which has often been described as the flagship initiative of the Jewish world for having brought to Israel more than 800,000 (!) young Jews from all over the world," they wrote. "For the vast majority of them, such a first encounter with the state often results in bolstering their Jewish identity, their familiarity with the history of the Jewish people and its heritage, and their ties with the state and the Jewish community."
They noted that the government's role is no trivial matter since it funds a great share of the project, potentially making the difference between its survival and collapse. "In the current state of affairs, there is a real and immediate danger to the entire initiative," they wrote. "As we all know, creating such a project requires many years of hard work; the past 25 years could be destroyed in one fell swoop." They added that even "pausing the project for a short period would create irreparable harm, not to mention possible lawsuits from providers and an indelible damage to the project's reputation – and God forbid, to Israel." The two asked in the letter that Netanyahu get personally involved in the project. "With great pain and concern, we ask that you get fully engaged on this matter by immediately tapping a cabinet minister to oversee the project and renew the agreements with the state," they concluded."
The Adelson Family Foundation has been the largest donor to Birthright-Israel. Dr. Miriam Adelson is the publisher of Israel Hayom.
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