Taglit-Birthright Israel (also Birthright Israel or Birthright) is a Jewish Israeli registered charity that sponsors free 10-day heritage trips to Israel. Birthright Israel's goals are to diminish the division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to Jewish history and culture. As of summer 2011, over 250,000 individuals[1][2] (over 22,000 each year), from 52 different countries have participated since the trips began in the winter of 2000, and 70% of trip participants came from the United States. From 2007, annual capacity was increased to 37,000 participants a year.[3] Taglit is the Hebrew word for discovery.
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Initiated by the former Justice Minister of Israel Dr.Yossi Beilin in 1994, the Birthright Israel program was founded in cooperation with Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, as well as the Israeli government, private philanthropists, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and Jewish communities around the world,[4] the Birthright Israel program has invested over $400 million on educational trips to Israel. Top educators, historians and tourism professionals were recruited to plan the program, for which demand is very high. Tours are held in the winter and summer. Registration is conducted online and each round there are thousands more applicants than spots.
On the business side, the Birthright Israel program has generated tourism revenues of NIS 1.5 billion for services such as hotels, food, security, guides, entrance fees, buses and flights.[5]
Eligible individuals are those who have at least one parent of recognized Jewish descent and who do not actively practice another religion, between the ages 18 to 26, post high-school, who have neither traveled to Israel before on a peer educational trip or study program nor have lived in Israel past the age of 12.[6] As of August 2009[update] persons who turn 27 before December 1 are not eligible for trips during the next year.
A Taglit-Birthright Israel trip includes airfare from major cities, hotels, most meals, all transportation within Israel, and costs associated with touring the country for the ten-day trip. A US$250 deposit is required (C$250 in Canada), which is refunded upon return from the trip. Airfare or transportation from a participant's home to the gateway city is not included, although the trips depart from multiple cities.
Trips are organized by different organizations and companies accredited by Taglit-Birthright Israel, which sets the logistical, educational and security standards. All groups are led by licensed Israeli tour guides, all groups are accompanied by an armed security guard, and include visits to the Western Wall and Yad Vashem, as well as other sites determined by Taglit-Birthright Israel. Tours may vary according to age group and the religious background of the participants. Trips may be geared for graduate students, undergraduates at a particular university (who may sign up through Hillel or Chabad), participants from a particular city, Orthodox Jews, Reform Jews, hiking enthusiasts, pluralistic enthusiasts and so on.
Trips are generally ten days long, and often include a so-called Mega Event, which involves speeches by dignitaries, ambassadors, musical performances, and the coming together of all participants currently in Israel, from all trip organizers. Another feature of the tours is a 5-10 day mifgash (Hebrew for encounter) with Israeli peers, especially soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces who join the touring. The purpose for the mifgash is for the participants and the soldiers to get to know each other and to better understand each other's world view and identity. One component of the mifgash is a discussion session, which aims to explore such topics as What does it mean to be Jewish in a modern world? How does Jewish life in Israel differ from Jewish life abroad? What do Israeli Jewish young people have in common with their Diaspora peers, and what sets them apart? How does mandatory military service impact Israeli young people's perceptions of service and commitment to their country?, amongst others. This encounter with the soldiers aims to give participants the chance to get to know Israel through the eyes of Israelis approximately the same age.[7] Over 30,000 Israelis (mainly IDF soldiers) have taken part in the program since 2000.
The itineraries include visits to historical, religious and cultural heritage sites around the country, including in Jerusalem, the Western Wall, and the Dead Sea.[8] Most trips also include Tel Aviv and the Galilee. The trips are not meant to be an exhaustive tour of Israel but a primer or introduction. The program participants are encouraged to extend their stay in Israel or return again on their own.
Participants have the option to extend their plane ticket for three additional months and use the time to explore Israel and the region. One popular extension program is the Livnot U'Lehibanot Israel Experience Program in Tzfat. The program offers subsidized programs of volunteering, hiking, workshops and seminars.
Birthright has policies in place during the trip that it claims "ensure a comprehensive safety umbrella":[9]
Taglit-Birthright Israel receives half of all its funding from the Government of Israel. Other sponsors include North American Jewish Federations through the United Jewish Communities (UJC), Keren Hayesod, and the Jewish Agency for Israel; and many leading private philanthropists through the Birthright Israel Foundation, including Charles Bronfman, Michael Steinhardt and Lynn Schusterman.[3] Steinhardt describes himself as an atheist, and said he supports Taglit because he wants to pass along Judaism's humanistic values.[10] The program also receives funding from the German government (through the Claims Conference).[11]
In 2007, Miriam and Sheldon Adelson pledged $25 million to Birthright Israel to take applicants off waiting lists and to increase annual capacity from 25,000 to 37,000 in 2007 and 2008.[3]
The Birthright Israel program has been criticized by some former participants as well as other members of the American-Jewish community for the following reasons:
Birthright Israel has a pre-trip screening process to determine the eligibility of an applicant. As Salon.com has reported, a candidate's political opinions may be taken into account: "Potential candidates who are discovered to have a 'hidden agenda' are not allowed onto the [Birthright] trips".[12] However, what constitutes a "hidden agenda" has not been made clear by Birthright organizers, nor does the article document this process.
Since each trip is organized and run differently, the discussion of political issues is left to the discretion of the trip organizer. However, the larger Birthright organization is Zionist. Numerous articles[13][14] have documented that according to former participants, the trips lacked balanced discussion concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict, or did not encourage political discussion at all:
She [former Participant Susan] didn't like the tour leader expressing his view as universal truth while leaving out facts that supported the Palestinian side...her attempts to redress the pro-Israel slant were not welcome. Group discussions were zealously facilitated and stuck to a narrow script that excluded any conversations about how participants felt about Israeli policy, and does not encourage political discussion.[12]
In an article in The Nation, Kiera Feldman complained about the ideological bias of Birthright trips:
Today, at a time of rising criticism of Israel, the program has taken on a different meaning. No longer is it simply a project to shore up Jewish identity; Birthright has joined the fight for the political loyalties of young Jews. It invites travelers to "explore Israel without being force-fed ideology," but you don't have to be Althusser to know that ideology almost always calls itself nonideological.[15]
Birthright's director of marketing, Gidi Mark, responded to these criticisms: "I don't think it's political for Jews to support Israel. It should be an integral part of every Jew's identity".[12] Philip Getz refuted Feldman's claims of a hidden agenda, saying, "The plain fact is that Birthright today is no less and (it bears noting) no more Zionist than it was in 1999. Its trips are administered by a variety of organizations, many of which, by Feldman's own admission, espouse widely divergent ideologies: "from secular to Orthodox, from outdoorsy to LGBT-friendly". Which of these ideologies is Birthright secretly pushing?"[16]
Organizations such as Birthright Unplugged were founded as a response to what the organizers perceived as Birthright's one-sided approach to the conflict. Birthright Unplugged's goal is to expose people to Palestinian society and its political realities by taking groups to Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps. While the trip is designed for North American Jews, it is open to people of all backgrounds.[17]
Several articles have accused Birthright of reducing enrollments in post–high school Israel trips,[18][19] as well as diverting money from Torah education[20] and Jewish social service programs.[19] Marilyn Henry in the Jerusalem Post states, "While philanthropists want the local communities to kick in more for the [Birthright] program, [Jewish] federations seem tapped out. Like Bergen County, they have more demands than Birthright...Put more starkly: Do we feed the elderly in our own communities or pay for students to visit Israel?"[19]
Birthright Israel has inspired similar programs for other diasporas with similar goals, including Birthright Armenia (Birthright Armenia) for the Armenian diaspora, and Birthright Greece for the Greek Diaspora.[21]