NEW YORK -- A major philanthropic effort to bring Jewish young
adults to Israel is expected to boost tourism in the future,
according to Arie Sommer, consul and Israeli commissioner for
tourism, North America.
The Jewish Birthright project, which is being underwritten by
individual philanthropists in the U.S., is designed to pay the way
for Jews ages 15 to 26 who did not intend to visit Israel
otherwise.
In October, the Israeli government agreed to allocate funds to
assist in this effort for the next five years. "We realized that
once teen-agers have been to Israel, they become more involved in
community activities here and in Israel," Sommer said.
He also noted that the Birthright project is somewhat similar to
efforts in the Christian community in which organizations subsidize
attendance at events to deepen participants' involvement in church
life.
According to reports, the Birthright project's goal is to bring
more than 50,000 Jewish young people to Israel annually during the
next five years, starting with 6,000 due to arrive in January for a
10-day tour.
Details of possible commissions or how it will work for the
U.S.-to-Israel travel industry have not been worked out as yet,
Sommer said.
But Israel has a high rate of return visitors, for which this
effort intends to create a pool, and it is expected that returnees
will encourage trips by relatives and friends who might not have
considered it before.